Forging a Hero
by Pink Lady Alex
Summary: Sequel to Captives. Ramirez, Stark, and Yinsen reunite under more pleasant circumstances to work on secret project. However, Tony's latest creation might become the world's best weapon - if it gets in the wrong hands. T for action violence.
1. Home

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Welcome to the sequel! Thanks for following this story from_ Captives _(if you haven't, go read it!). I'm really, really excited to be writing this, and I hope that you'll love it as much as I do. Credit goes to my brother for the title - thanks bro! Please don't hesitate (or forget, yes it happens) to leave your comments and questions. Your feedback is always very much appreciated and I like hearing your ideas too!

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Home**

Returning home had been everything that she thought it would be. A heartwarming reunion with her family had occurred soon after the C-17 military airplane landed at Stark Industries Aviation Division. Since she had left all her possessions at her family's home before going on her tour of duty in Afghanistan, she had everything ready and waiting for her. A large, joyous dinner was had and she went to bed that night feeling warm and safe. That feeling, however, did not last long.

At first it was alright – settling into a room in the Ramirez house, with extended family included – but then it got awkward. Julia Ramirez had devoted a lot of her life to serving in the air force. She was tough and independent. It had only just started to sink in that this was what her new life was going to look like. Her family didn't want her on her own yet, and neither did the psychologists and therapists that she was obliged to see. Although she had her privacy, Julia was not oblivious to the anxious glances from her mother and father, or the hushed talk that ceased when she entered a room.

Her two older brothers came by on a regular basis and offered words of encouragement, but they were both married with families and had their own concerns. Julia also had a younger sister, she was quite a bit younger though, and the two of them were polar opposites. Her sister lived at home and therefore always nearby; she was starting to grate on Julia's nerves. The other relatives were usually occupied with their own affairs, but were generally easier to be around.

By day three the questions started, coming mainly from her mother. At first they were customary: Where were you held? Did they feed you? Did you have clothing? What were the captors like? But then Mrs. Ramirez's questions started to feel more like an interrogation: What was it like living in close quarters with two men? Were you sexually assaulted? Did anyone try to use you as a bargaining chip? Her sister was openly impertinent and kept asking about Tony Stark: What was he like? Did he look as "hot" as in his photos? Was he the womanizer that that everyone said he was? Did she sleep with him?

Julia came close to smacking her sister's face at that last question, but a particularly menacing glare had sent her on her way. All her family knew was the information the air force provided and the few details that Julia was willing to discuss. Thus, they knew that she had been captured and held hostage with the billionaire industrialist Tony Stark and another man named Yinsen. They knew that she had been held in a cave in Afghanistan for three months. They knew that it was only by a daring escape that the three people had managed to get away to freedom.

She had also told them about the convoy attack, revealed the scars she's been left with after being shot, and described a bit about living in a dark, cold cave. Nevertheless, there was so much that Julia couldn't tell them, and didn't want to anyways. There were things they wouldn't understand – her relationship with the famous Tony Stark – and things they couldn't handle – what it felt like being tortured – and things they couldn't know – the arc reactor and the mechanical suit.

And so she would sit quietly staring out the window. She watched re-runs on television, but wasn't able to enjoy them. She slept profusely, yet tossed continually in a restless slumber. Julia's doctors didn't want her driving yet, and everyone was leery of letting her go off on her own. It had only been a matter of days that she had been home, but she could already feel herself getting cabin fever, or depression, or whatever this feeling was. If this was what it was like being on leave, she wondered how anyone survived it.

Eventually Julia forced herself to sit down at her computer to check her e-mails and other websites that she had accounts with. Most were unchanged, but others were flooded with emotional messages dating back to when she had been reported missing. She couldn't bear to read them, at least not yet. The newest item in her inbox was from Elian Pratt, her friend and colleague from the air force. They had just reunited a few days ago after believing each other had been killed in the convoy attack that had seen Stark taken captive. Pratt's e-mail ended up being the only one she replied to; he just wanted to know how she was doing.

It was eleven o'clock in the morning when her mother entered the room. Julia was still sleeping, but woke suddenly at the sound of movement – a habit she'd picked up from being in the military.

"Julia, there's someone on the phone for you."

She raised a hand from the blankets to accept the device and put it to her ear, mumbling a groggy "Hello?"

"Hey! Did I wake you? Time to get out of bed, soldier. It's Tony. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. How did you get my number?"

"Rhodey gave me your contact information. So, I have a question for you: Have you ever ridden in a Rolls Royce?"


	2. His Home

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Have I ever mentioned sequel pressure? Unless you've personally started writing a sequel, you may not realize the stress of having to match and/or outdo one's own work. I'm still really feeling the pressure to make this story awesome, so I hope it gets easier. In this chapter I'm worried about how Tony sounds – if he seems a bit OOC don't hesitate to send along a message and I'll try to clarify. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts!

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**Chapter 2 – His Home**

Seemingly out of the blue, Tony Stark had called and invited her to stay at his house in Malibu. It had only been one week since their plane landed in California, yet it had already felt like an eternity for Julia. Somehow Tony must have known it, or maybe he was just feeling the same way. In any case, she was to be packed and ready to go in two hours. She was used to packing lightly anyways, and in well under an hour she had a duffel bag waiting on her bed.

Julia returned to her room after showering and getting dressed and her mother entered almost immediately afterward. "Julia," she began tentatively, "what is the bag for? Do you plan on going somewhere?"

"Yes, I'm going to stay with a friend for a few days."

"Really? What friend would that be?"

"Tony."

"A man… I see. Wait a minute – Tony as in Tony Stark?"

"Yes."

"You're going to stay with that man?"

"He called and invited me."

"Julia, you're supposed to be at home, with your family, resting. The doctors were very precise about that."

"They didn't say that I couldn't leave the house though."

"Adjusting to a normal life is going to be a challenge, you can't rush it. I don't think that going off with Tony Stark is the best thing for you right now."

"Tony Stark?" an all too curious voice asked.

Julia nearly groaned audibly; her sister, Florentina, seemed to have a talent for appearing at the wrong time.

"You're going somewhere with Tony Stark?" the young woman was almost gushing.

"Before you get your rumor mill going, try getting the facts straight first. My friend, who happens to be Mr. Stark, has asked me to stay at his house for a little while. I'm leaving in twenty minutes, and I'll be back in a few days," Julia explained. "You are both making this sound like a bad thing; I've already been living in the same cell with him for three months."

"This is different," her mother countered. "Before you were prisoners and relied on each other for survival, but now he's gone back to his own life, and if you remember what that was like… Besides, you've seen the footage of that press conference – the man is obviously traumatized by the event and not thinking clearly."

"Of course he's traumatized. I'm traumatized! But what he said took courage, and whatever he has in mind, I support him. I understand what he meant; unless you were over there and experienced what we did, it's not going to seem like logical thinking."

"He's still a man though, and it will just be the two of you all alone together." Tina had a smirk on her angelic-looking face, knowing that her remark had probably deeply irritated her sister.

Julia's body tensed and she clenched her jaw; few people could anger her as much as her sister seemed to take delight in doing. She took a breath to calm herself before speaking. "You have no self respect."

"What?"

"I don't think that Tony ever respected any of the women he's charmed into a bedroom, but maybe that's because those women never respected themselves and were willing to throw themselves at a man who could care less about them the next day."

The comment silenced Florentina and seemed to pacify Mrs. Ramirez. They both left her room and Julia packed up the last of the things she would be taking along.

* * *

A black Rolls Royce Phantom pulled up in front of the Ramirez house right on time. Just the sight of it brought people to the windows to gawk at it, not just at her home but at those all around the neighbourhood. Suddenly this didn't seem like the best idea after all. Julia had already received a large amount of attention from people, but this was going to overdo it.

A well-dressed man got out of the driver's seat. There was no point in making him walk up to the front door, so she picked up her one article of luggage and made her way out. Upon getting closer she recognized the man as Tony's chauffeur. He briefly took off his sunglasses and stepped forward to take her bag.

"Ms. Ramirez, it's good to meet you." He extended his other hand in greeting. "I'll be driving you today. Mr. Stark wanted me to apologize for not personally coming to pick you up; Ms. Potts has advised that he remain at home."

"That's alright," she replied.

With a slight amount of hesitation Julia's mother rushed over and gave her a hug. "Now, you'll call me, right? And don't forget to follow the doctor's instructions. And if you want to come home early…"

"Mom, I'll be fine. Don't worry." This was beginning to feel like summer camp or something, but Julia could appreciate her mother's apprehension. "I'll see you in a few days – take care." She waved to the rest of her family, who were standing on the porch, and slid into the car, the chauffeur closing the door behind her.

The sound of the engine was like a gentle purr as the luxury sedan smoothly pulled away from the curb. It was surprisingly quiet inside, and very comfortable. Cream-coloured leather seating was arranged in a lounge style and complimented by footrests and a theater system. There were many additional accents that personalized the vehicle, though Julia didn't notice them as she was already overwhelmed just by being in such an extravagant mode of transport.

"Would you like anything to drink?" the chauffeur asked. "There is a coolbox toward the floor between the seats, and the drink cabinets are on the door."

She looked inside of both and found a small assortment of alcohol. "I think I'll just have a bottle of mineral water, thanks. I don't think we've officially met."

"Harry Hogan. My friends call me "Happy", so feel free to do the same."

"Thanks, I will. Call me Julia."

"Well Julia, enjoy the ride."

* * *

His house could barely be called a house – it was more of a large, sculptured, modern mansion – but if that's what he called home she wasn't about to dispute it. The Rolls came to a gentle stop precisely before the front doors; Happy had likely had much practice getting that right. When they stepped inside, the temperature was perfect; not too cool from the air conditioning. Actually, everything looked perfect – the artwork and décor, the crystal clear windows, the spotless white floors.

Julia was just removed her shoes when Tony entered with a dazzling grin on his face. "Hey! You're finally here – it seemed like forever since I called you. How was the ride? Happy must have taken the scenic route." He approached and gave her a surprisingly warm hug; even Happy looked a little taken aback at the display of affection. "Enough sentiment – come in!" he continued enthusiastically.

Tony led her to the living room where his assistant was working on a laptop. She stood when she noticed the new arrival. "Ms. Ramirez, it's nice to see you again."

"Same to you, Ms. Potts."

"Please tell me that you two won't be this formal all the time," Tony remarked. "Come on Julia, we've got a tour to get through."

The house was much more than she had anticipated, though Julia had not been sure just what to expect. It was a blend of modern lines and futuristic tech with classic influences. The design was very open and bright with almost every window displaying a breath-taking ocean view.

"While you're here I want you to really make yourself at home; treat my place as you would yours. Don't feel restricted about privacy or anything, everything is open to you. Hey Jarvis, could you make a note of that?" he called out.

A polite, accented voice answered; "Yes sir, Julia Ramirez is to have full access of the house."

"What was that?" She was a little alarmed that someone, or something, had actually answered him.

"Jarvis – he runs the house. Think of him as an automated butler, though he's many times more advanced than that. Don't worry, you'll get used to him. Ok, so we've got the kitchen – I've got someone who does the cooking because I can't make anything above a sandwich, but whenever you're hungry just help yourself, whatever you want… We've got washrooms everywhere – pretty self-explanatory… Over here is where the staff can stay, since they're here part-time… Down here is the weight-room – I'm in here a lot… This is Pepper's room; she's actually here basically all the time… There are interface systems all over the place, so ask Jarvis if you need help with them… And this, is your room…"

It was easily the most amazing guest room that she had ever stayed in. Everything was white – the gleaming floors, the minimalist furniture – and the secondary colour was gray, highlighting items like the bedding and décor. Beyond the sheer white curtains was a spectacular blue ocean view.

"This is really beautiful Tony."

"Thanks. So, when you're settled I'll be in the living room – I've got one more thing to show you."

Julia took the opportunity to gaze out the windows, feel the impossibly soft duvet on the bed, and marvel at the bathroom. She felt a little overwhelmed by it all. It was almost startling to come to the realization that he actually lived this way, with all of this wealth and luxury. However, for all his money he really did have good taste. Finally Julia mustered up the courage to go find him.

"I thought you might have gotten lost," Tony quipped as she entered. "Pepper has been bugging me about what our plans are for dinner and what we'd like to have – anything in particular you'd like?"

"Uh, chicken?"

"How would you feel about chicken parmigiana?"

"That sounds great."

"Chicken parmigiana it is. You are so easy to please; I like that, though I'm one to talk, since I can be a little…"

"Demanding," Pepper interjected.

"Exactly," he confirmed, smiling at the woman. "And you handle everything so gracefully, Ms. Potts."

"Thank you Mr. Stark."

Julia noticed how well they got along; their humourous banter probably got them through many issues. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to manage someone like Tony. Although he wasn't mean or cold like so many top executives seemed to be, his fast-paced lifestyle likely left a lot of clean-up for his assistant to handle. If Tony's past exploits were any indication, Virginia Potts was frequently worried about damage control.

"Ok Julia, there's one more place you have to see; this way." She followed him down a curved set of stairs and they paused at a door. "Remember this code," he instructed her as he punched in the numbers.

On the other side of the thick glass was Tony's workshop, a fusion of the state-of-the-art, the essentials, and the classic. Beyond the main area it opened up to garage with high ceilings and plenty of open space. He was beaming proudly as she gazed about.

"This is where I spend most of my time."

"This is incredible!"

"I think that my best work gets done down here; there are no distractions and I've got everything I need. I'll show you the latest project I've started." Tony sat down at a desk and with a few clicks had dimmed the lights and brought up a holographic interactive display.

Julia instantly recognized the image being projected and came closer to look at it. "The suit?"

"Yes. These are the renderings and technical aspects of it. I've been doing them up since the other day, but I think they're finished."

"I'm confused – what is this for?"

"The first suit, Mark I, worked quite well, all things considered, but there is an enormous amount of potential in that whole concept. Now that I'm here I can work on it, I can make it better. I'm not entirely sure what the end result will be, but I'm going to find out."

Julia was speechless, she honestly couldn't think of anything to say.

Tony stood and walked over to her. "Julia, I'm not making this for Stark Industries or anyone else. I want to discover what I can do with this. I want you to work on this with me."

Finally her eyes met his; there was a serious expression there, he wasn't fooling around in the slightest. "I don't think I'll be able to construct something as complex as what you're talking about."

"Of course you will! You built the first one. And it will be so much easier this time around – for starters we won't be in a cave. Please say you will."

She smiled. "You always knew I would. Yes, I will."

* * *

Stark had a lengthy table that was used to host formal dinners but this night it was set for only two people. Instead of at opposite ends, Tony and Julia were seated across from each other at the middle of the table. To her it felt a little strange not having many other people around in such a big house. His personal chef had prepared a full meal for them and after dessert was served, he would leave. Happy had his own suite on the property where he lived most nights, and Pepper insisted on forgoing the meal to finish up some work.

"This is the first proper meal we've had together, unless you're counting fire-side eating," Julia commented.

"I really hope that my table manners haven't deteriorated to the point that I can't go out in public," Tony joked.

"I guess you usually eat out."

"Yeah, but it gives my chef a lot of time off; it's more of a part-time job for him. So, how have things been for you since you got back?"

"They've been alright I guess, a little slow. It's going to take a while getting used to everything, though I think that regardless there would have been an adjustment period after my tour finished."

"You're doing counseling, right?

"Yes. My mom usually drives me in; my family is a little paranoid about me going anywhere on my own. I think they're afraid that I'll just snap and have a nervous breakdown or kill someone. The doctor already advised them about things like approaching me from behind and so on."

"Worried about triggering a defensive reaction?"

"Something like that. I mean, I wouldn't intentionally try to hurt someone, but after what happened in Afghanistan I might suddenly go into survival mode… I don't know yet. I feel like a risk."

"Well, this is a good place to unwind. I've got a pool – I had actually forgotten until I looked out a window. In any case, I'll be careful not to sneak up on you."

Julia smiled. "What have you been doing recently?"

"Me?" His tone switched, indicating annoyance and sarcasm. "I've made a nice mess of the company, alienated my best friend, and have basically been living in my workshop."

"I saw the press conference."

"Maybe I should've waited on that one… but I would've done it eventually anyways. I've got everyone telling me to lay low and get some rest. Obi, my business partner, and Rhodes both think I'm dealing with post-traumatic stress."

Though Julia actually agreed with that statement, she decided to postpone saying anything about it. Knowing him, he'd probably dismissed any notion of seeing a therapist.

"Oh, I did find the time to put this together." Tony unbuttoned his shirt to show her the device in his chest.

"You built a new one?" she asked, amazed.

"And in less than half the time it took to build the first one. I needed a stronger one, especially since I'll be using it to power the new suit."

"Don't tell me you installed that yourself – Yinsen put it in the first time."

Tony chuckled. "I would've done it but my hands were too big for the task. Pepper helped. Although she was terrified, she made a very capable nurse; I mean, I'm still here aren't I?"

At that moment Pepper entered the dining room and stopped abruptly. Julia realized that the scene must have appeared questionable from where she was standing – the two of them finishing dessert and Tony sitting there with his shirt undone almost to the navel. She seemed to shrug it off and carry on walking in.

"Ah, Pepper – we were just talking about your brief stint as a nurse the other day," he said as he casually buttoned his shirt.

"Yes, that was quite an experience," she commented diplomatically. "I'm all finished here so I'll be off for the evening, unless there's anything else you'd like me to do."

"We'll be fine until tomorrow, thanks. It's a little late, are you sure you won't stay?"

"No, I think I should just get home; I've probably got laundry to do or something. Good night Tony, Ms. Ramirez."

"Good night," they responded in unison.

"I'm going to have a nightcap – want one? Tony asked his guest.

"Sure."

They took their plates to the kitchen and he went to the liquor cabinet, which happened to be very well-stocked.

"So, I'd like to start this new project tomorrow. I really don't have anything else going on, since I'm supposed to be recovering or something. One thing you should know about me is that I get really… intense about things when I really get into them."

"Tony, I've already watched you work night and day for the better part of three months – believe me, I already know."

He handed her a drink and they strolled out to a balcony.

"Pepper just wanted me to warn you. Ever since I got back I've been down there working. I just want this to be more of a retreat than an internship for you."

"I'll think of it as a working holiday."

They stood and stared out into the night at the crisp sparkle of stars.

"Y'know, I never really appreciated all this until we were in that cave. Things I never thought that I'd miss, like the sound of the ocean, or a fresh breeze, or the sky."

"The night sky in Afghanistan was actually really amazing. There aren't many lights, and it's cold, and you're way above sea level, and the stars are just incredible. Makes you wonder about your place in it all – or at least it does for me."

"Yeah…" After a while Tony glanced over at her; "Hey, you look a little beat."

"I haven't been sleeping so well, not yet at least."

"I know what that's like."

"Think I'll turn in now. Thanks for having me come over."

"My pleasure. Good night." He leaned over rather haltingly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Wow, that was awkward, sorry about that."

She laughed in return. "Good night."

Her room was quiet and tranquil, making Julia feel even more tired than she thought. Knowing that there was no one else around made her feel a little anxious. When she was a captive there had always been at least one other person nearby, and at home her family was all in the same house. Even in the air force Julia had had a roommate and was used to sharing a room with somebody, but here there was only Tony. She wondered how he could stand it. There was of course the omnipresent Jarvis, but still it wasn't the same. By the time she slipped into bed she felt less insecure. The soft blankets and pillows made it feel like she was enveloped in a cloud. Julia was asleep in moments.


	3. Assistants and Assistance

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_I'm very sorry for this delayed update. I must confess that I have not been as diligent in writing lately as I should be :( I resolve to do better! This is a good chapter to set the pace and the background of what's to come. I want you (yes you) to feel like you're in Tony's house. If you're still grappling with the thought of living in his place I've got a link to original concept photos… All questions and inquiries can be directed to the Review button.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Assistants and Assistance **

It took Julia Ramirez several moments to remember where she was when she woke up the next morning. Eventually she remembered that she was in Tony Stark's house; the expansive bedroom looked so different from where she lay. Instead of rising, she turned over and enjoyed the feeling of being in that sumptuous bed. Julia couldn't even recall when she'd last slept so soundly; she doubted that she'd even moved once all night.

After she finally got up and put on a housecoat, Julia decided to test out the house's Artificial Intelligence system; she wasn't sure what time it was since was not a clock in sight. "Um, Jarvis?" she asked tentatively.

"Good morning, Ms. Ramirez," a polite British voice responded. "How may I assist you?"

"Wow… Uh, what time is it?"

"The current time is ten-o-seven A.M." As Jarvis spoke, the curtains were automatically drawn back to reveal a bright blue sky.

"I've been asleep for eleven hours?" she muttered to herself. Julia opened the door and crept out into the hallway – everything was quiet. She padded into the living room, which also had no sign of life. Was he still in bed? Did he go out? Was anyone else in the house? "Jarvis, where could I find Tony?"

"Mr. Stark is in his workshop. He requested that I inform him once you awake; if you wish to page him, please access the panel on the wall."

The interface system also served as an intercom, which was especially handy in a dwelling this large. It only buzzed a couple of times before Tony's voice came through.

"Good morning, soldier. How did you sleep?"

"Good morning, Tony. Wonderfully – that bed was an experience. I'm an airman, by the way."

"Airman, right. I've always had trouble calling you that. Well, Airman Ramirez, why don't you come on down? I've got fresh coffee brewing."

"Okay, I'll be right there." She descended the stairs and entered the shop, and was surprised to find him already hard at work. "You weren't joking when you said how enthusiastic you are for this project."

"Hey! Yeah, I've been down here since six this morning. I just couldn't sleep, kept thinking and thinking."

Julia eyed the holograph of a slimmed-down Mark I and another of the foot part of the suit. Going to stand near Tony, she marveled at how much he'd already constructed. Working on the other side of him was a long robotic arm, something he hadn't mentioned yesterday.

"This is Dummy, my technical assistant in the shop. So, what do you think of the design changes?"

"They're very impressive. The way the boots open is much more accessible."

"Yes. That's one of the biggest challenges – making this in such a way that it will be easy to put on and take off again. I don't have the time or the patience to stand around and be clamped together like a medieval knight."

"Um, I don't want to break your concentration, but are you hungry?" Julia asked, trying to conceal that fact that her stomach was rumbling.

"I've had about three cups of coffee so far… I was going to hold out until lunch."

"Well, I'm going to go make something for myself. Would you like brunch? I can do an omelet."

"I would love brunch, and I would love an omelet."

"Ok then, I'll be back in a little while."

* * *

I could get used to this, Julia thought as she prepared a brunch for two. Like everything else in Tony's house, the kitchen was amazingly large, and it was well-stocked with almost every food imaginable. It was a shame that he didn't do much cooking, though during their time in captivity he was able to make their simple meals without difficulty. While in Afghanistan, the air force had fed them fairly well, but one of the things that everyone missed was a home-cooked meal.

Julia was rummaging around in a lower cupboard, looking for a tray or two, and didn't hear the footsteps of a person walking around in the hall.

"Good morning, Greger. I didn't know that you were coming in today," a feminine voice called.

Surveying the area, Julia realized that Stark's assistant must have mistaken her for the chef. She stood and greeted her. "Good morning Ms. Potts. It's just me."

"Oh… Hello." Pepper looked startled.

"Do you know where I could find a tray?"

"Yes, in that cabinet to your left."

"Thanks. I'm making brunch – would you like any? It's no trouble for me to make extra."

"Uh, no thank you. I've already eaten."

Fortunately the tray was large enough for her to put everything on at once, though it was cumbersome to handle.

"Would you like some help with that?" Pepper offered.

"Yes please. I'm headed down to the shop and I don't think that I'll be able to balance this and punch in the code."

"Right… the workshop?" she asked tentatively. "I haven't seen Tony yet; is he down there?"

"Yeah, he's been there all morning."

Virginia's high heels clacked on the floor as she descended the staircase ahead of her. Holding the door wide open, Julia was able to slip through and set her load down on a table. The sounds prompted Tony to take a quick glance over his shoulder; he did a double-take when he caught sight of the food.

"It's ready! Wow that was fast. Thanks, Julia."

"Good morning, Tony," his assistant greeted him.

"Oh, hey Pepper," he mumbled through a mouth-full of food. "You should really have some of this."

"Thank you but I've had breakfast."

"I bet it was granola. Just have some! It's really good," he insisted, holding a forkful of omelet up to her mouth.

After protesting she finally ate it, slowly nodding in agreement. "So, do you have any specific plans for the day that I should know about?"

"I'll be down here working."

"Ok then. And tonight?"

Tony glanced over at Julia. "We should kick back for the evening, maybe watch TV?"

"Sure," she replied.

"That's what we'll be doing."

"Oh… alright."

"What? You've got that surprised look on your face like something didn't go according to plan."

"There is no such 'look'. I just presumed that you'd be going out."

"Pepper – everyone, including you, has been telling me to lay low. Besides, I just want to stay here. We've got plenty of lights, alcohol, and music here. I don't have to go out to the club scene. And Julia's here to relax, not nurse hangovers; I mean, unless you want to."

Julia chuckled. "No thanks."

"Well then, I guess we're all on the same page. I'll be working upstairs, trying to keep the company running," Pepper said matter-of-factly.

He exclaimed, "It's not a sinking ship, it'll bounce back."

"It's not a basketball either, Tony."

"Obadiah is going to get it worked out."

"Yes – Obadiah, and me, and the Board of Directors, and a lot of other people."

"Well, I'd apologize but it's for the best, it really is."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Stark."

"Here, you can have some toast if you promise to stop spreading gloom and doom." Tony slathered some jam on a slice and handed the toast to her, after which Pepper returned upstairs.

This seemed to be a typical kind of argument between them. Julia could understand her concern, especially since Stark of Stark Industries was locked away in his workshop during the company's crisis. However, Tony's focus on this project was complete, and he was consistently deflecting any sort of discussion about the matter.

* * *

The next two days saw Tony Stark working energetically for hours on end. The only times he would take breaks were for lunch and dinner, and in the later evenings he and Julia would sit around conversing. She found it interesting that even after three months of living together they still had so much to talk about. Some people would have parted ways forever, but they had formed a life-long friendship.

Julia enjoyed working on Tony's "secret project". For some untold reason he didn't want anyone else to know, not even Pepper. It was astounding to see the progress that he made from one day to the next; the boot section was incredibly detailed, and there was not an inch of it that had been overlooked. His robots were well calibrated to work alongside him, but Tony seemed to be pleased to have another person there to share his passion with. Julia already knew that he was good at teaching how to work with this highly advanced form of mechanics, yet in the workshop she felt like an apprentice learning from a master.

"I've got to go to a counseling session tomorrow, so I'll be out until the afternoon," she told him as they were relaxing in the living room that evening.

"Want to take one of my cars?"

"I've never driven any car that's as fast as yours; I think I'd need some lessons first. Besides, I don't know if the doctors will let me drive yet."

"Happy will take you."

"The Rolls? I was thinking of calling a taxi – I don't want to bother him."

Virginia entered the room to retrieve her cell phone.

"What about Pepper? Pepper, you're going into the office tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. What did you want me to do?"

"Julia needs a ride to her counseling meeting tomorrow; could you take her?"

"I, um… yes I can."

"Great, that's settled," Tony proclaimed.

The two women exchanged wary glances.

For the first time since Julia had been visiting Stark's house, Virginia stayed in her own room there. The following morning they reluctantly left Tony alone – it was early but he was already in his workshop – and got into Pepper's silver Audi S5 Coupe. Before they drove off, she called Happy and asked him to stop by and check on Tony; it was true that she took better care of him than he did himself.

Neither Julia nor Pepper had spoken much since they had gotten into the car. Julia wondered if she intimidated the other woman because of her strong personality or possibly due to her military background, though Virginia Potts didn't seem like the type to be intimidated by anyone. However, Julia wasn't going to go sit through the rest of this ride in silence and decided to break the ice with a 'safe' comment.

"You've got a really nice car."

"Thanks – it's the perfect size for me; not too big, not too small."

"Hopefully my doctor will let me drive soon. I really don't like having to get rides from people; I hope this wasn't an inconvenience for you."

"No, no. I'm used to doing all sorts of side errands. I'll often get calls asking for me to go here or pick up something."

"That sounds like Tony."

"Um, Ms. Ramirez…"

"Call me Julia."

"Julia, could I ask you something that is kind of personal? You don't have answer."

"Ok, sure."

"Are you are Tony, uh, together?"

"'Together', like in a relationship?"

"Yes."

"No we aren't; we're friends."

Pepper almost seemed to be relieved at that answer, though there weren't any obvious indications that showed she felt that way. "It was impertinent of me to ask; it's really none of my business. It's only that the female visitors that he usually has only stay for the night. Mr. Stark doesn't do the whole long-term dating thing. So I wanted to be aware of what the situation was. Sorry."

Julia found it a little humourous that now she was apologizing for bringing up the sensitive subject. "It's alright, I understand where you're coming from. I had trouble convincing my mom of the same thing. But honestly, Tony and I are just good friends. Having been what we've been through, we have gotten really close. With his reputation I guess it's hard see things otherwise. I mean, I was ready to loathe him when he first came to Afghanistan; I never imagined that we'd end up as we are."

The professional Ms. Potts seemed to soften her whole attitude. "I'm really sorry if I came off rather cool these past few days. I've had to show so many girls the door; I guess I've gotten a little defensive."

"Can't say I blame you," Julia replied with a grin.

"By the way, please call me Virginia or Pepper."

* * *

After six days of non-stop work, Tony decided that it was time to test out the rocket boots he had constructed. Both he and Julia had been up early that morning, and shortly after eleven o'clock he'd declared the boots finished. He and his robot completed the last bit of soldering, then he hooked everything into the arc reactor in his chest.

She wanted to ask him if he'd checked everything, but already knew what his answer would be; though she had a lot of confidence in his abilities, there remained that small amount of trepidation. These rocket-propelled boots just looked powerful, and the unknown factors did make them hazardous.

Tony positioned himself on his special grid-lined mat with the controls in both hands. "Ok, let's do this right. Start mark half a meter back from center. Dummy look alive you're on standby for fire safety; you, roll it," he called out to his robots.

Julia was standing nearby, but not too close. With the other robot filming the test there wasn't much for her to do at this point, except watch. Nevertheless, her hands were clenched behind her back where Tony couldn't see the whites of her knuckles.

"Activate hand controls – going to start up nice and easy at ten percent thrust capacity to achieve flight, in three, two, one…"

The force of the boots shot him up and back in a full-body flip. He might have done a total three hundred-sixty degree rotation if it hadn't been for the lower part of the ceiling. Tony slammed into the cement and dropped straight to the ground behind a few large tool drawers. His robot instantly doused him in fire extinguisher.

She had never been one to stand and gape, yet it still took her a split second to snap into action and vault a table to get to him. There wasn't any smoke or flames, just the cloud of dry chemical extinguisher.

"Tony! Are you alright?"

He lay there choking on the stream of white dust, holding up an arm to keep it from hitting his face and vigourously waving the other in an attempt to get the robot to stop putting out the non-existent fire.

"Whoa! Stop! Off!" she yelled, and finally the robot backed away. Julia wiped as much as she could off of his face and he sat up coughing out the dust. "Are you hurt?"

"No, nothing's broken… almost suffocated though."

They just looked at each other and burst out laughing; both of them were covered in the extinguisher residue.

"Well, they work!"

"Do they ever!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to have to make some adjustments; these are much more powerful than I anticipated. Stabilizers… I need hand stabilizers."

"Right now you need to get out of these clothes, and maybe rinse out your eyes; I hope this stuff isn't toxic…"

"It's the human-safe kind, not the chemical powder. Could you help me get this unhooked?"

"Sure." Julia got a cloth to wipe off the wiring. "Hey Tony, I should probably get back home tomorrow."

"What? Really? Why? I thought that you were having a good time."

"I am! It's been great. I told my family that I'd only be here a few days though. And I don't want you to feel like I just freeloading."

"'Freeloading'? Are you kidding me? I _want_ you to be here. But don't let me pressure you – it's your choice."

Julia sighed heavily. Truth be told, she didn't want to leave. She loved her family, but right now she had to be active. Returning home would mean returning to slow, dull days, days spent trying to 'rehabilitate' into normal civilian life. What did that even mean anymore? At least here she had something constructive and meaningful to work on. And if that allowed her to better adjust to things…"

"Tony, I want to stay."

He smiled. "As long as you like. Are you sure your family will be ok with that?"

"I think so. They just want me to be happy, no matter where I am."


	4. Contemplation

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_This chapter has a lot of interesting things going on; not a whole lot happens, but what does happen is really involved. That sentence will probably make sense after you read haha. Poor Pepper only gets a fleeting mention this time, but she'll be in the next chapter more. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts!

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Contemplation**

It had been ages since Julia had done proper strength training with weights and equipment, and she was eager to get her body back into its peak physical state. Perhaps too eager. Tony had a full exercise room downstairs, and she'd spent yesterday afternoon working out. Julia realized that she'd overdone it the moment she tried to get out of bed the next morning; her muscles were so sore and tight that she let out a gasp in pain when she moved. This gave her the excuse she'd been waiting for to use the deep white bathtub in her guestroom.

She had already discovered an array of products housed in the sleek wood cabinetry that she could add to the hot water. A mini bath bomb composed of spices like ginger, cloves, and cinnamon started fizzing immediately, while a bubble bar added soft bubbles and turned the water a bright blue. Sinking into the aromatic froth, there was only one more thing she needed.

"Jarvis, I think I need some music to go with this soak, something nature-related. Any recommendations?" She found it amusing how she'd already grown accustom to the A.I. system.

"I have a selection of ambient nature sounds that you may choose from: rainforest, pastoral, ocean, and swamp."

"Rainforest, please. And is there some type of do-not-disturb setting I can activate?"

"Yes, I can temporarily block incoming communications, aside from emergency alerts."

"Could you do that please?"

"Initiating privacy setting."

She couldn't even remember the last time that she'd had a bath like this, or if she'd ever had a bath like this. In the air force it was always showers. Julia closed her eyes and felt her tense, strained muscles relaxing while her mind drifted through peaceful thoughts.

The sounds of tropical birds and water dripping off of leaves masked the sounds of footsteps in her room and the bathroom door opening.

"Oh, here you are!"

Julia shrieked, though it was more in irritation that someone had snuck up on her. "What are you doing?"

"Not looking at you in a bathtub," Tony replied. He was covering his eyes with a hand, but she could clearly see the sly smile on his face.

She quickly moved to cover herself, then realized that the silky bubbles were already doing that for her. "Seriously? You need to talk to me this urgently?"

"Well, it's ten in the morning and you're usually awake by now." Tony took a seat on a nearby stool, not bothering to shield his eyes any longer. "When I couldn't page you I had to go looking for you – Jarvis only said that you weren't to be disturbed."

"Yeah, pretty much for this very reason," Julia replied with a laugh.

"It looks very relaxing."

"It is."

"But I didn't come to discuss bathwater. I've got some good news; Yinsen got clearance to fly as well as a visa. He's already on his way. I just got a call from him."

"Really? That's great! When will he be here?"

"Today, mid-afternoon. Happy's going to get him from the airport – would you like to go along?"

"Absolutely! Wait, aren't you going too?"

Tony shrugged. "I can't show up at the airport on a regular day without causing a scene, so you can imagine what it would be like right now."

"Good point. Ok, I'll be ready soon."

"Alright," he said, standing to leave. "It'll be great having him stay for a while. Sorry to interrupt your bath. I'll knock louder next time."

Julia chuckled in response; knowing him, there probably would be a next time.

* * *

The Rolls Royce was dispatched to collect the doctor from the Los Angeles International Airport. Julia still felt uncomfortable sitting alone in the back while Happy did all of the driving, so she decided to ride up front with him. The car had exquisite wood inlays and beautifully crafted controls – so different from the utilitarian Humvees that she was used to driving. Sitting in the passenger seat also had another advantage: getting to know Happy Hogan better. He hadn't had much driving to do lately and she barely saw him.

"Do you want me to come inside?" he asked when they arrived at the airport. "I've got a little signboard we could use."

"Yeah, come on. What about the car?"

"It'll be fine here."

"Really?"

"Yes!" he replied, laughing.

"If I had a car like that I wouldn't feel good leaving it alone for a moment."

"I know some of the security guys here; they'll keep an eye on it." He waved to a man nearby and they entered the arrivals section of the airport.

There was a crowd of people already waiting for the flight and they had to squeeze themselves over to a position where their sign would be visible. It seemed to take forever until the first passengers disembarked. Julia scanned the people for Yinsen's placid face framed by small round glasses. Finally she saw him – he was one of the last to come off the plane. His tired-looking eyes took in the bustling surroundings and they lit up when he spotted his name.

Julia smiled broadly when their eyes met. She noticed with slight alarm the cane and his limp, then remembered that he had had shrapnel in his leg not too long ago. A flight attendant came up alongside him with a bag, making sure that he was taken care of before she left.

Their reunion came in the form of a warm embrace. It felt like ages since she had seen the man that she and Tony had spent three months with. "How are you feeling? How was the flight?"

"I feel quite sore at the moment, and the flight was a long one, though I slept through much of it. How are you? You look well."

"I'm doing pretty good right now. I'm staying with Tony, but I guess you already know that."

"And how is Tony Stark? I've seen him on the news…" Yinsen was alluding to the now-infamous press conference.

"Better than you'd think. But you're the doctor, I'll let you be the judge of that. Do you have any checked baggage?"

"No. I didn't have many belongings to bring."

"Alright then, let's get to the car."

His reaction was basically the same as hers was when she learned that a Rolls was picking her up. Yinsen stared at the vehicle for a moment then looked at her. "I can see why you're visiting Stark."

She chuckled and opened the door for him. "Just wait until we get to his house."

* * *

They were barely inside the house when Tony came rushing into the entryway. "Hey! Yinsen!" he greeted the man with a hug. "Good to see you walking. How was your flight?"

"It was tiring but the service was very nice."

"I paid off all of the flight attendants to make sure they served you like a king," Tony joked. "Come in and sit down!"

The three of them went to the living room and got comfortable on the sofas. Ms. Potts came in a moment later with a tray bearing a large teapot, cups, and sweeteners. After introductions, Pepper excused herself and they were left to converse.

"Just like old times," Julia remarked, "all of us sitting around drinking tea."

"I've been thinking about you two a lot. I wondered when we would meet again, though I never thought that it would be so soon."

"How have things been for you?" Tony asked.

"Alright I guess… I went back to Charikar; my family's house is still there and my friends were taking care of it."

"When was the last time you were there?" Julia asked. Yinsen had not talked about his family while they were captives. It was only when they were escaping that she and Tony learned that they were all dead. Suddenly he was talking about it, like he wanted to get it off his chest.

"Perhaps five months ago… We took a holiday to my hometown, Gulmira, to visit relatives. We were there for six weeks. It was on the road back that we got attacked. We were travelling with a group of people – other families, merchants. The Ten Rings ambushed us. They separated us. Once they found out that I was a doctor they said I had to help them or they would kill my family. Their men were wounded, so I treated them. They kept all of us in a cave overnight. We heard them plotting to take the women and do terrible things, so we devised a plan to steal a vehicle or two send away as many people as we could. I sent my family, I wanted them to be safe. They had almost gotten away but then the guards realized what had happened. It was a rocket launcher, a big military one that needed two people to operate – one shot from that… At least they died quickly. The Ten Rings killed everyone who was left over, but I was spared because of my medical skill. I always hoped to be free…" his voice trailed off.

Tony and Julia sat there in stunned silence. She felt cold, like the temperature had just plunged. Glancing over at Tony she thought she saw him hastily brushing a couple tears off his face but she couldn't be sure.

"Recently I've had a lot of time to think about it all," Yinsen quietly confessed.

Julia struggled to find something to say. "Why… why didn't you tell us?"

"I was not able to. I just wrote down everything. Besides, I had you two to take care of and that kept me busy."

"Wrote it down? Where?"

"I kept journals. Bakaar obtained medical books for me, anything I needed to work, and I would always request little journals. When we escaped I tied them all onto myself underneath my shirt."

By now she was speechless. They lived with each other for three months and even after all that time there were still secrets, things that she didn't even know when they were in a cave together.

The doctor changed the subject, addressing Stark; "What have you been doing to fill your days?"

Tony must have been rather choked-up because his voice sounded a bit rough and he had to clear his throat a couple times. "I've, er, we've been working on a project. It's a better version of the suit we built in the cave."

Yinsen's eyebrows raised high on his forehead. "Another suit? Oh goodness…"

"Not for the military – a private project," he quickly assured him. "Just Julia and I have been doing this. That's one of the reasons I wanted you to come. I want you help us work on it, to be there when I put this thing on."

"I'm a doctor, Stark. What do you need me for?"

"Moral support?" he replied with a half-smile.

Yinsen chuckled. "Well, if you've got Julia here then it can't be that bad. Ok, I'll help."

"But I don't want you working too hard, I mean, you're still recovering."

"Tony's down in his workshop practically all day; I don't have that kind of stamina," Julia added. "Think of it as a retreat."

"Exactly! Like just earlier today I found her in the bath."

"I don't know if that's the kind of retreat I need…" Yinsen said dryly.

"My house is your house – welcome home."

* * *

Tony and Julia spent the rest of the afternoon showing Yinsen the house – his guestroom, the kitchen, the main living areas, and the workshop. The doctor took it all in stride, even the startlingly human-like A.I. known as J.A.R.V.I.S. They had a pleasant dinner in the early evening, then Yinsen announced that he was going to retire for the night. After making sure that he had everything he needed – he said that they were both fussing over him too much – Tony and Julia went down to the shop for several hours.

"I haven't gotten as much done today," he admitted. "I did some more tests on the boots, and I worked on some designs for flight stabilizers."

She inspected the holographs. "Like gloves – cool!"

"I just hope that it'll make the suit easier to maneuver; it'll probably be a challenge not to flip over when I get up in the air. I'm really looking forward to testing them."

"So tomorrow we're working on those?"

"Yeah. Yinsen will have some good ideas; he looks at things from a totally different perspective."

"I'm so glad he's here."

"Yeah me too…"

The blue glow of the arc reactor was visible from beneath Tony's shirt. It still felt surreal that he could power all of this with that device. "How does the reactor feel when it's hooked up to things?"

"Pretty much the same, I guess. I think it might get a little brighter, but that's about it."

Julia wandered over to one of Tony's custom motorcycles and slid onto the leather seat. "Do you ever ride these?"

"Yes, but not much. You'd be surprised how little time I get to go cruising." He paused for a moment. "Actually, I'm not feeling in much of a mood to start building this; I'd rather wait until tomorrow when Yinsen can work with us. Want to go for a ride instead?"

"Right now?"

"Sure. Do you ride?"

"Unless you count mountain biking, no. I've ridden dirt bikes though."

"Close enough. I've got all of the gear in this closet; I think I'll have something that will fit you."

She laughed, "I feel like we're sneaking out."

"We are. Jarvis, if Yinsen or Pepper should ask for us, we're taking a drive."

"Very good, sir."

After showing her the basic controls and explaining the steering, throttle, and braking, they suited up and started the engines. The roar from those Samurai Choppers was like thunder.

Tony's voice came through the headset built into her helmet. "We'll take it slow, just follow my lead. Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

Accelerating slowly and smoothly they were up and out of the garage in seconds and heading down the long driveway to the road. If either of them had looked back they would've seen Pepper exiting the house and staring after the bikes; first in confusion, then in something resembling exasperation.

The ride was unlike anything Julia had ever experienced. She felt so small on this powerful machine, and her lack of motorcycle knowledge had her gripping the handlebars for dear life. Nevertheless, it was fun – wildly fun. She could get used to this.

Tony slowed his bike until he was riding right next to her. Julia could see him grinning broadly. "You're doing great. Let's pick up speed a little."

They were on some of the Malibu back-roads where there weren't as many vehicles. It was really a beautiful night to be out. Eventually her fear subsided a little and she started to get into the rhythm of the experience; the way the chopper handled turns, the sound of the motor, the wind rushing against her body, the road flying past underneath her feet.

Finding themselves at a coffee shop, they decided to stop for some late-night refreshments. Tony and Julia chatted for a while, and when some fellow patrons commented on the motorcycles they were joined by a group of bikers. The conversation continued outside where everyone inspected each others' machines and swapped stories. Julia couldn't remember the last time she'd been able just to get out like this and be a normal person. For that matter, this was probably a rare thing for Tony as well.

The people didn't seem to notice – or at least they didn't bring it up – that the man they were speaking with was the billionaire Stark, or maybe this sort of encounter with the rich and famous was common in this area. In any case, it didn't last too long. Julia became aware of the staring eyes in the coffee shop and a couple of people dialing on their cell phones.

"Hey Tony," she whispered. "I think you're being recognized. Maybe we should get going."

His eyes did a casual sweep of their surroundings. "Yeah you're right. Darn!" he muttered. "The paparazzi will be here soon. If my photo ends up in the paper Pepper will kill me. Let's get rolling."

After exchanging farewells with the other motorists, they fired up their motorcycles just as the first of the media-hungry celebrity photographers appeared. Gunning the engines, they left them in the dust, eager to get some distance between themselves and the cameras. The paparazzi scrambled back into their cars and followed the retreating figures.

"Are you ready for this?" Tony asked.

Julia could guess at what he was talking about; speeding around in the dark while riding something she could just barely handle. Then again, she had never even one to back down from a challenge – being in the air force, she'd learned to push herself through demanding situations. "Yeah."

"Alright. Don't brake hard. Stay with me!"

He accelerated and she did the same, placing her bike to the left behind his. She didn't dare do any shoulder checks, not wanting to take her eyes off the road for even a split second. Her heart was keeping a frenetic beat in her chest, but she managed to control her breathing, taking deep breaths instead of short, shallow ones.

The chase lasted for a short time, though it seemed like forever to her; like the most thrilling ride in existence. Finally they slipped into a dark driveway they shut off the lights, waiting until their pursuers rushed past before turning them on again. Tony and Julia exchanged mischievous smiles and turned the choppers back in the direction they had come, roaring back off into the night.


	5. Tea Break

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Our trio finally gets down to work! There are some different concepts developing, so I think this is a fairly important chapter as the story moves forward. Also, for a second time Julia gets mistaken as someone else while she is in the kitchen; I didn't really plan that but I found it funny that things turned out that way. By the way, someone has an alcoholic drink near the end of the chapter (just in case that should bother someone). Read on, readers!

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Tea Break**

"It's just rumours, gossip – you know how the tabloids are, they'll make up stories out of nothing."

"Yes, I have lot of experience in dealing with tabloids. And this is not 'nothing'. I honestly don't know if you're aware of the work that everyone is putting in trying to get the company back on track. I mean, the damage that was done in one press conference…"

"Is fixable!"

"And your public image? Right now I've got a lot of people wondering if you're suffering from stress-related disorders, and questioning your emotional condition. What happened to laying low and taking a break?"

"I've been doing that. We just went out for a bit."

"These are photos of you!"

"You know what the paparazzi are like, they're relentless."

"And fortunately they couldn't get a clear picture of you, but this is only going to add fuel to the fire."

"Well, they can't confirm that it was me, so why are we worrying about this?"

Nine in the morning and they were arguing – not a great start to the day. Julia sat on a stool at the workbench trying to solder some wiring while Tony and Pepper Potts squared off about last night's motorcycle ride that almost resulted in Stark's shaky image taking another hit. She could appreciate his assistant's anxiety about it, since Virginia Potts already had enough to stress over; yet Tony probably couldn't go anywhere without being recognized. At least he wasn't getting caught doing something stupid, as he had been many times before.

The heated discussion seemed to come to an end. Pepper marched back upstairs, her fair face a light shade of red. Tony sat down heavily into the seat at his desk and stared at the automotive screensaver on his computer. Julia decided to temporarily leave the area. She wanted to give him some time alone to cool off, especially since he didn't work well when he was agitated. Quietly excusing herself she slipped upstairs, hoping not to run into an equally emotional Pepper Potts.

Instead she found Yinsen coming down a hallway. "Good morning! I wasn't expecting to see you for a bit."

"I did sleep for quite a while, didn't I? How are you?"

"I'm alright. Would you like to sit?"

"Yes please."

She led him to the sofa in the living room and he carefully sat down, resting the cane next to himself.

"I think that Tony's chef is in today; is there anything in particular you'd like to eat?"

"No, just some coffee."

"Ok, I'll be right back." Julia made a dash to the kitchen to see what Greger was whipping up. "He's making waffles."

"That sounds good. Where is Stark? Does he eat breakfast?"

"He usually does have either breakfast or brunch at some point in the morning, but…" she lowered her voice in case Pepper was nearby, "he and Virginia just had a disagreement."

"Ah, I see."

"He's down in the workshop; I just wanted to give him some time to himself."

"Ms. Potts certainly does have a handful with him," Yinsen remarked. "So what's the plan for the day?"

"Tony's going to be working on the suit all day and I'll spend most of the day helping. He's anxious for you to come and work with us."

"I know – just like a boy." He smiled at the thought of his friend's exuberance. "And you, how are you really?"

"Well, to be honest it was difficult when I first got back; I'm living at my family's home, but I've been here for quite a while. Tony said that I could stay as long as I want, and I feel more comfortable being here right now."

"I can't blame you, he does have the benefits of wealth."

She laughed. "Aside from that – it just feels better to be working on something. And I'm still in counseling, so that's a process I have to get through."

"But an important one; don't rush it."

"I never got a chance to tell you… one of the men on my team, Pratt, he's alive!"

"Alive? You said that he had not survived the attack."

"I thought he had been killed, but he wasn't!"

"I'm so happy for you, Julia. This is incredible to hear, I know how deeply that affected you."

Out of nowhere she could feel that familiar lump in her throat; whenever she thought about Pratt she relived that day the learned that he'd cheated death. "I still think about it a lot though. I even have dreams about it, even though I know he's fine. And Jimmy too… Does it ever get better?"

"Possibly, but I'll have to let you know."

Tony came up the stairs and caught sight of the two of them reclining on the beige sofa. "Yinsen! Hey, how's it going?"

"I'm doing well. You have the most comfortable mattress that I've ever slept on."

"Thank you, I get many compliments on the beds – the guest bedrooms, of course," he replied with a grin. "I'll be back in a sec, I have to talk to Pepper." He hastened off in the direction of his office.

"There's something one would be hard-pressed to find from the former Tony Stark."

Julia glanced and the doctor, not getting his meaning. "What's that?"

"An apology."

* * *

After breakfast the trio headed down to the shop via the elevator and went straight to work. Yinsen was quite impressed by the rocket boots, and also surprised that he'd built that much in such a short span of time. Constructing the gauntlets was the next step in the process. Not only would they be vital for maintaining balance when airborne, but they needed to provide a full range of movement for Tony's hands and fingers.

"I actually hadn't even thought about the dexterity that would be required," he replied when Yinsen mentioned that point. "See, this is exactly why I wanted you here."

The doctor gazed at the holographic projection as Tony stuck his arm into the three-dimensional blueprints. "So, we're building all of this today?"

"Yep… well, as much as possible."

"Something like this would have taken a week or more in the cave."

"That's the beauty of the Mark II – I've already built a working prototype, so this version will have fewer kinks to work out. And it'll be operational much faster."

For the rest of the morning and into the afternoon they assembled the gauntlets, until they felt ready to break for lunch. Pepper decided to eat with them, which was rare for her; she was usually busy or not hungry.

"If you would excuse me, I must have a rest," Yinsen announced after the meal. "The jetlag effect has made me so tired."

"Don't worry about it," Tony assured him. "If you want to wake up at a certain time just tell Jarvis."

"Can I bring you anything?" Julia asked.

"Some tea, please. Something relaxing."

"Coming right up."

Pepper's cell phone rang and she stayed at the table to take the call while Tony walked the doctor to his room and Julia cleared the table. She hadn't talked to her family for a couple days, she thought to herself, this would probably be a good time to check in with them. She had just prepared Yinsen's hot drink when Tony came into the kitchen.

"Hey, do you mind if I also take a break? I should give my family a call."

"Go ahead. You know where I'll be if you need me. Want me to take that over to him?"

"It's alright – I'm headed in that direction anyway."

Carefully carrying the tray down the hallway, she deposited it with Yinsen, making sure that he was comfortable before she left. It was true, she and Tony did fuss over him a lot.

Julia went to her own room, grabbed the phone and flopped down in a chair beside the window. Florentina, her sister, answered.

"Hey Tina, it's Julia. How's it going?"

"Hi! I'm doing good. How's Tony?"

"He's fine… You haven't been talking about-"

"No, of course not! I can keep a secret too, y'know."

Julia sighed. "Sure. Is mom there?"

"Yeah, hang on a second, I'll get her for you."

After a brief pause Mrs. Ramirez came on the line sounding pleased that her daughter had called. "Julia! How are you? You haven't phoned in a while."

"I'm well – sorry I've been out of touch."

"It's ok. Have you been going to counseling?"

"Yes, the sessions have been going fine, I think."

"That's good to hear. How is your, uh, friend Tony?"

"He's alright; he's usually busy working and inventing."

"They say he's a genius. And you're sure it's ok that you're there? I don't want you intruding on his personal space or overstaying your welcome; he's a busy man."

"He's taking time off right now, so he's usually at home." At home, that sounded so strange… "Anyways, he said that I can stay as long as I want, and I'd really like to stay longer."

"Oh… ok then."

"I'm not trying to avoid you, Mom. This is just a transitional phase for me and here I have a lot of space to relax and reflect; it's almost like a retreat or a resort."

"Well in that case maybe I should visit!" she joked. "Before I forget, a young man has called for you several times – Elian Pratt?"

"Really? Did he leave a number?"

"A few actually. I'll read them all out to you. I think you should phone him; he's from the air force?"

"Yes. He's a nice guy."

Julia hadn't broached that subject with her family yet, and wasn't about to now. She talked for a while with her mother and spoke with her father and a couple other family members. Once she finished that call she sat there staring at Pratt's contact information. It was a good time to phone him, but she felt reluctant for some unknown reason. However, procrastination was something she rarely indulged in.

She could feel an uneasy feeling doing somersaults in her upper abdomen as his phone rang once, twice, three times…

"Hello?"

"Pratt? It's Julia."

"Oh, hi! How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. How are you? Did I catch you in the middle of dinner?"

"No, no, I'm not really doing anything. I'm doing pretty good, glad that you called. Are you back at home?"

"Not yet; I'm staying with a friend for a little bit."

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean. I was a mess when I got back home. If my brother hadn't let me stay with him it would have been really stressful."

"I just needed to be somewhere where I could get some R and R without the questions asked."

"That reminds me, I was thinking, maybe in a month or so we could go somewhere like Puerto Rico or Costa Rica for a vacation. I know some other air force people who will be on break soon, and we're all kind of loosely planning a trip. Not too many people – probably under twelve – and we could split the costs that way. It could be nice; an all-inclusive resort, hiking, swimming, snorkeling… stuff like that."

"That does sound really nice."

"And if it's Puerto Rico we could hang out with the forces stationed there – enlisted folks only, and no Marines!"

She chuckled at the private joke. "Yeah, I'll have to think about it, and run it past my family and doctors…"

"Well, no rush. I understand that you need time, but let me know."

"Sure. So, um, I should probably let you go…"

"Yeah, I'll be having dinner soon… It's good to hear your voice. I'll talk to you later."

"Talk to you later. Take care, Pratt."

"You too. Bye."

"Bye."

She felt guilty for cutting the conversation short, for ending the call like that. Why couldn't she talk with him like she used to? Maybe it was just that she had nothing to say. Pratt wasn't in a cave for three months – she had been. And that wasn't something that one could relate over the phone, or even a webcam. Yet this didn't feel normal, she wasn't one to isolate herself like this. What happened to the confident, dynamic Julia she used to be?

* * *

When dinner was over, everyone convened back in the workshop for several hours. Within a day they had gotten the basic frame of the gauntlets built and Tony was finishing constructing the power cores for them. This suit was really starting to take shape.

"Would anyone like some tea?' Yinsen called out from the small kitchen area.

"Yes, please!" Tony and Julia answered in unison, then grinned at each other.

"Oh wait, I can't seem to find any…"

"There should be more upstairs in the kitchen."

"I'll get it," Julia volunteered. "Should I bring down some more coffee too? You've been drinking that stuff like crazy, Tony."

"Sure – maybe grab some decaf too," he replied.

The kitchen was spotless, as it always was by the time the housekeepers were finished with it. Greger, the Swedish chef, usually did some cleaning or brought an assistant, but tonight Stark let him off early with tickets to a show. One cabinet was full of coffees, teas, and hot chocolate mixes; she took the time to peruse many of them, each one being exotic and expensive-looking.

"I'm sure I'll find something good in here!" a deep, male voice hollered nearby. A moment later there were heavy approaching footsteps and a man entered the kitchen. "Well, hello! I thought everyone had left for the day."

It took a moment for Julia to recognize him as Obadiah Stane, a top executive of Stark Industries, and here he was, standing in Tony's kitchen. The next thought that came to mind was the fact that he had mistaken her for "the help", likely because she was casually dressed in a t-shirt and loose-fitting jeans, or perhaps it was because of her Hispanic features. Maybe it was better not to correct him. "I'm just getting some tea."

"Ah, I see. Well I'm looking for something a little stronger. I'm so rarely in here – where does he keep the scotch?"

"Right here." She opened up the liquor cabinet, which was also well-stocked.

"Perfect! Thank you." Stane poured himself a scotch over ice and left the kitchen.

Julia was still surprised from his random appearance, though it probably wasn't that unusual since he was Stark's friend, mentor, and business partner. He was much taller and larger than she had expected. Stane's booming voice she had heard before on television and such, but it was different standing right beside him.

Gathering the assortment of tea and coffee that she'd selected, Julia carried the armful back to the stairs leading down to the workshop. Stane was seated in the living room and looked surprised to see her about to descend the stairs.

"Excuse me, that area is private. Mr. Stark will take his drinks up here."

At that moment Pepper walked into the room carrying a small box. "It's alright Obadiah, she's a friend of Tony's. I guess you haven't been introduced – this is Julia Ramirez, she's in the air force; and this is Obadiah Stane of Stark Industries."

He came forward to shake her hand. "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't aware Tony had a guest. He's usually very selective about who comes down to the workshop."

She could sense a tone in his voice, but given Tony's reputation with women, it must have seemed out of the ordinary to have some stranger wandering all around his house. "It's fine, an honest mistake."

"I'll tell Tony you're here," Pepper said. "Would you like a hand with that, Julia?"

She eyed the red-head's high heels and pencil skirt; it was a wonder that she could navigate those stairs at all. "No thanks, I can manage."

Both women entered the shop at once, just as Tony was strapping on one of the gauntlets to his arm.

"I thought you wanted to test that tomorrow," she commented.

"Yeah, but I couldn't wait to fire it up."

"I've been buzzing you," Pepper told him. "Did you hear the intercom?"

"What?" he said absently, not really listening.

"Obadiah's upstairs – what would you like me to tell him?"

"Great, great, I'll be right up."

Pepper finally addressed the device on his arm that was clearly consuming all his attention. "I thought you said you were done making weapons."

"It isn't," Tony replied, hoisting the heavy mechanism up. "This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless."

He put an outstretched palm in front of himself and fired into the air. The noise was like a sonic boom. The force of the blast sent things flying off the tables and launched Tony backwards several feet. Julia and Pepper had covered their ears and winced, then cautiously opened their eyes to see the space where Stark had been standing empty.

"I didn't expect that," a voice came from the floor behind a shelf of equipment.

Another voice spoke up from further back in the shop. "Well, it works." Yinsen stood there with a large helmet on his head, complete with ear protection and a visor.

At the sight of him, Julia burst out laughing and was joined by Tony, as he stood up, and finally the doctor. Even Pepper smiled a bit before returning upstairs.


	6. It's All About Control

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_This is the most behind that I've ever been with a posting – very sorry for that. I'm altering my writing schedule so that I can hopefully get chapters posted sooner, which means less waiting for you! This title of this chapter is much cooler; the last one seemed like a good idea at the time, but is so lame… Most importantly, I am dedicating this story to long-time reader and faithful reviewer _Mr. Osborne_, and to fellow writer and moral supporter _xoxoMyRealityIsFiction_. Thank you so much for your ongoing encouragement and thoughtful words – I really appreciate it!

* * *

**Chapter 6 – It's All About Control**

When Tony returned to the workshop he had a brooding expression on his face. He'd just spoken with Obadiah Stane, his business partner, and the news obviously had not been good. Though he went straight back to his work, he was quiet, which was especially unusual for Stark. Julia picked up one of the pieces of pizza he'd brought down and passed the other to Yinsen. They silently debated with their eyes over who would start speaking first; finally the doctor conceded.

"Julia told me that she ran into Obadiah Stane upstairs."

It was a casual sentence, but it got Stark talking. "Yeah, he just flew in from New York. There was a Board of Directors meeting this evening. Apparently I was supposed to be there…"

"And things didn't go well?"

"The Board locked me out, filed an injunction."

"I see."

"Do I seem that unstable? Is that what people are saying?" Tony heaved a sigh. "I guess I shouldn't be angry with them, but they didn't exactly go out of their way to speak with me."

"You were away for three months with the high chance that you weren't going to return; they had to make decisions while you were away. Perhaps they just haven't gotten used to the fact that you're here again. Also, you've changed a lot during that time – they haven't realized that yet."

"Somehow I get the feeling that they aren't the only ones. Well, let's finish this stuff up. I'm not going back upstairs until he's gone."

Julia could see that the injunction had really stung him. He was angry and frustrated, and probably felt somewhat betrayed. She and Yinsen exchanged another look. Now was a perfect time to make that tea.

* * *

The next morning Julia woke up, got ready for the day, and went down to the workshop as usual; however, it was dark. She keyed in the security code and entered, but there was no one around. Tony hadn't been down yet, which was out of the ordinary since he normally started work at seven or seven-thirty everyday. Julia glanced a wall clock – eight-thirty. Yinsen wasn't awake yet either, though he was still jetlagged. She returned upstairs to the kitchen and made herself a quick breakfast. Just as she sat down, Tony strolled over looking like he had just gotten out of bed; he still had that groggy appearance and his hair was incredibly disheveled.

"Good morning," Julia greeted him. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired." He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat opposite her. "I'm not sure if I ever got to sleep, or if I did and it was one long, exhausting dream."

"Nightmares?"

Tony shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Not if you're losing sleep."

"It's no big deal, don't worry about it." He waved his hand dismissively as he spoke, and took a gulp of his coffee.

Julia didn't push the matter. She knew that he could be just as stubborn as she was when she set her mind on something. "I'm going to counseling this morning."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Happy's taking you?"

"Yes."

"In the Rolls? I know how much you love arriving in that," he said with a smirk. "Take my car, the Audi."

"What? No way, I can't drive that!"

"Happy can drive you; he can give you a lesson on the way back or something."

She shook her head. "Seriously?"

"Of course – why not?"

"Alright then. Thank you."

"Anytime. I'll call Hogan and tell him to bring it around front when he picks you up."

When the chauffeur pulled up at Stark's front door in a silver Audi R8 Julia felt her heart beat just a little faster; though she also felt that way when a fighter jet roared overhead or when she was ordered to drive a Humvee off-road. She hadn't seen Happy Hogan in a while – he didn't really spend time about the house. Tony spoke briefly with him, then leaned in the open passenger window to talk with her.

"Have a good session. See you this afternoon!"

"Don't do any major tests without me." She wanted to be there when he powered up the rocket boots and gauntlets.

"We won't, but I'm going to have a hard time keeping Yinsen from trying them." Tony grinned and returned inside.

Happy slid into the driver's seat beside her, looking pleased to be driving his boss' personal car. "How's it going, Julia?"

"Pretty good. Yourself?"

"Quite well." He accelerated smoothly and in no time they were out onto the road. "So, Tony tells me that you've never driven a sports car before."

"It's true. There aren't too many cars like this in the air force, especially overseas."

"Fair enough. After you're finished at your appointment I'll give you a crash course… sorry, that's ominous. Sports car basics – that sounds better."

* * *

Something that Julia never told anyone was the effect her experiences had on her day-to-day life. Before she got to Tony's house, things seemed all right at first, but her family started to point things out; like how she would often sit in her room with the curtains closed and extremely low lighting, or the way she would compulsively wash items in sink basins, or the sudden desire to fix things that had gotten broken and shelved in the garage. There were already arrangements in place for her to see a military counselor, but until then she hadn't thought she would've needed to.

The sessions felt boring, yet the time seemed to move quickly. Initially she thought that it was incredibly stereotypical to have a comfortable sofa to lie or sit on, but then realized that it actually was more relaxing. Her main counselor, Kathryn, reminded her of one of her aunts, though she didn't look anything like her – she had a soft voice with a Midwestern accent and large, light blue eyes that seemed to radiate understanding. It had been quite a few sessions until she finally felt comfortable with the woman, enough to start speaking more openly. Julia had never been the type to divulge her thoughts and feelings to just anyone – it was only her most intimate friends that she would confide in – and these days she felt even more guarded than usual.

"Hello Julia," Kathryn greeted her. "How have things been lately?"

"Not too bad, I guess."

"Any noticeable changes in habits? Eating? Sleeping?"

"I don't think so – it's rare that I don't have a good appetite, but my sleeping patterns are about the same."

"Restlessness, dreams…"

"Yeah; some nights are better than others."

The counselor made some quick notes in a journal, then looked up at her. "So, is there anything in particular you feel like talking about today? Just start with whatever comes to mind first."

Julia shrugged her shoulders from where she was lying on the sofa. "Well, I've noticed that I often feel really on edge, like I'm being watched. My friend's house has this interactive security system that was a little creepy at first, but it's not real. When I was in captivity they had cameras watching the room we were held in. They didn't bother me much unless we were working on escape plans or bathing or whatever, but in the back of my mind was this knowledge that someone, a person at a screen, was watching. Then again, in the air force you're usually under some level of scrutiny. Just a bit of paranoia I guess."

"Are there any other things that make you feel the same way?"

"Not anything that I can name. Sometimes I just feel anxious and jumpy for no reason."

"What do you usually do to get rid of that negative energy?"

"The same thing I've always done: exercise. My friend's got a great gym and I spent a good deal of time down there working out. He's also got a pool, but I haven't been in it yet."

"Swimming is great exercise – do you swim?"

"I do, but I just keep putting it off."

"Do you think that the water torture you went through may be making you hesitant to get into the pool? That was a traumatic experience."

"But that was completely different. This is outdoors and I wouldn't be forced in to the point of drowning. Besides, I recently took a bath without any issues."

"When you were in the cave, how did you keep clean?"

"Usually washing in a basin and taking baths as needed; it was a lot of work drawing up that much water."

"So sitting in a bath is something that you're accustomed to doing. However, when was the last time you went swimming?"

"I can't even remember."

"Hmm… well, I definitely don't recommend bobbing for apples anytime soon; however, I think it might be beneficial for you to at least try wading into the water. If you should feel particularly distressed by this, please let me know."

The session lasted a little while longer, with Julia doing all of the recommended exercises. By the time it ended she was ready to get back to Tony's house and return to work on the Mark II. Happy Hogan was waiting outside by the car when she exited the building. He tipped his sunglasses up and beamed at her as she approached.

"Ready for your driving lesson, Ms. Ramirez?"

"Yes indeed."

He handed off the keys to her and she got into the driver's seat.

"First things first – have you driven a stick shift before?"

"It's been a while, but I think I remember how it all works."

"Great. Let's put it into first gear and get rolling!"

Happy directed her to a large, open, paved area in an industrial area not too far away; an ideal place to practice.

"Ok, the main principle of a car like this is control. Speed comes easily, but you'll crash in a second if you don't have control of the vehicle. As you've probably already noticed, the car responds very quickly to subtle steering adjustments. Let's work on everything is first gear and maybe second – turns, serpentine, braking, etc. We're going to put it through its paces!"

They went through all of those concepts and more. Happy turned out to be not just a good chauffeur, but a good teacher as well. He possessed a wealth of knowledge when it came to cars, and could drive a sports car with the same ease as he did a Rolls Royce. Julia was surprised to hear him hollering in excitement when she snapped a one-eighty turn – but as soon as she felt comfortable with the car she was laughing too.

* * *

"Hey, you're back! How was your morning?" Tony asked when Julia came down to the workshop that afternoon.

"It was great; Happy took me out driving."

He noticed the smile on her face. "I think you'll have to get a car like that now."

Yinsen was working with Dummy, the robotic arm, farther back in the shop and waved her over. "You're back just in time. We're setting up for a test. This morning we tested out a configuration for the boots and gloves in connection with the arc reactor, but I believe we've gotten that working well."

"Did Tony mention anything about the last major test he did?"

"No, why?"

"We don't need to bring that up!" Tony called out from somewhere.

Julia whispered, "He smashed into the wall up there."

"My goodness…" the doctor shook his head. "It's a good thing I'm here."

"Is everything ready? I'm going to put this gear on now," Tony informed them.

"We'll give you a hand," Julia replied.

The metal framework for the suit was already fairly heavy, but it all strapped on well. Stark was wearing a shirt that had a hole cut in the center so that he could better access the arc reactor in his chest. He muttered something about hoping that he had the power ratios correct, and Julia noticed that he seemed a little tense, probably wishing not to have a repeat of the last test.

As Tony clomped over to the test pad, Yinsen donned protective headgear and joined Julia behind the robot that would be filming the experiment. On their own, both the gauntlets and boots were very powerful; there actually was a possibility that he might shoot upward and crash into the ceiling. It was a good thing that Pepper had no idea what went on down there…

"Can't either of you have the fire extinguisher?" he asked.

"If you're on fire he can get to you faster; really, it's better," Julia told him, though she remembered how funny it was when Dummy sprayed him with a cloud of the stuff.

Tony turned to his robot. "Fine, but if you douse me again and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college. Ok, nice and easy; seriously just going to start off with one percent thrust capacity in three… two… one…"

Firing all four thrusters with a burst of light, he rose off the ground a couple feet and hovered unsteadily. Yinsen and Julia were both holding their breaths until he landed solidly on the ground.

"Ok, that was good." Tony glanced back to see Dummy holding the extinguisher in his direction. "Please don't follow me around with it either because I feel like I'm going to catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down if something happens, then come in. Ok, let's bring it up to two point five in three… two… one…"

The tiny increase in power brought Stark up to four feet and he started moving away from the crash mat, all the while grunting and muttering in a verbal effort to keep himself upright.

"Tony, the car – watch the car!" Julia warned. The jet-like thrusters were way too close to the vehicles, in particular the one that she had been driving earlier that day.

"Ok – this is where I don't want to be," he murmured. "Not the car, not the car, not the car… yikes!"

"Oh my goodness," Yinsen said quietly.

In the urgency of getting away from the four parked cars and two motorcycles, Tony skimmed over several desks and worktables, sending things flying off. Narrowly avoiding a collision with several screens, he precariously maneuvered his way back to the test pad, flying right by the robot with the camera. Yinsen quickly got out of the way of the white hot thrusters and Julia crouched down near another table.

Overhead Tony emitted sounds of anxiety before catching her worried expression. "We're ok. Could be worse, could be worse – we're fine!" He finally got himself back to where he'd started, and with a grunt made a rather heavy landing. Dummy looked ready to douse him once more and Tony hastily deterred him.

Julia stood up and stared. "Wow," she breathed.

"Yeah, I can fly."

She grinned; trust him to be amazingly cocky after pulling off something like that.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day reviewing the footage of the test, taking notes, and making modifications, before stopping work early. It was also decided that the three of them would make dinner. Since Tony didn't have the widest repertoire when it came to preparing meals, they chose a simple dish – spaghetti with a meat sauce, accompanied by a salad and toasted garlic bread. Somewhere in the middle of it all, Pepper sauntered into the kitchen, looking surprised by what she saw.

"I heard all the commotion… Are you guys cooking?"

"Yes, a gourmet dinner. You are staying for dinner, right?" Tony asked.

"I think I will. Actually, I'm going to find a camera and take a picture of this; Tony Stark, in a kitchen, cooking." Ms. Potts returned a moment later and snapped a photo of the trio smiling. Then, she went over to Yinsen, who was stirring the sauce. "This smells so good – are you sure you're not a chef?"

"Would you like a taste?"

"Yes, please!" He held up a spoonful, which she daintily took. "Wow! That's delicious. It looks like you're making a lot of food – would it be alright if I called Happy over? I know for a fact that he would love a home-cooked meal."

That evening five people sat around a table. It was a rare thing in Stark's house, but it was a perfect end to a really good day. Julia hadn't seen him this content in a while; Tony was with people he knew well and trusted. She had never seen Yinsen so happy – this was probably the closest thing to a family meal he'd had in months and months. Everything just felt relaxed and safe, and even if it was only for a little while, everyone could forget about the world outside and its hectic pace.


	7. He Just Wants You To Be Happy

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Finally a longer chapter! I've got so much that still has to happen in this story, and I'm quietly freaking out about fitting it all into place. This chapter has a very important and much anticipated development – hope you like it!

* * *

**Chapter 7 – He Just Wants You To Be Happy**

This wasn't exactly the way Julia anticipated spending her morning, but it wasn't that bad either. Sometime last night she had mentioned wanting to take a swim in Tony's pool – something that she'd wanted to do since she first saw it – yet had no bathing suit to wear. He, of course, replied that she didn't _have_ to have one. After talking it over, Tony commissioned a shopping expedition and put his assistant in charge of it all. Thus, Julia found herself in the backseat of the Rolls Royce with Pepper Potts beside her taking notes while talking on a cell phone.

After twenty minutes of non-stop calls, Virginia finally put the device away and took a deep breath. "It never ends," she stated.

"I'm sorry if this is interrupting your schedule," Julia offered; she did feel a little guilty for this impromptu trip.

"Don't worry about it – I'm used to Tony's spontaneity, and believe me this is nothing when compared with some of the curveballs he's thrown me. He keeps me on my toes."

"He really does value your advice though."

She looked skeptical, and her tone had more than a hint of sarcasm. "Really?"

"Yes. For example, he said that he always has you check his clothing before buying it. He said you've got sound judgment about virtually everything."

"Oh… well…"

Julia noticed her cheeks turn a light shade of pink; Pepper had a pleasant expression as she gazed off into space.

About an hour later they arrived at Beverly Hills and the Rolls didn't look one bit out of place; however, Julia felt like she'd stepped into another world, one full of wealthy, beautiful people.

"Maybe I should have dressed up a bit…" she said in a low voice, glancing down her loose-fitting jeans and t-shirt.

"You look fine," Virginia replied in a reassuring manner. "I can guarantee that you'll see several women in sweatpants before we're finished here – designer sweatpants, but sweatpants nonetheless."

Julia couldn't even imagine Ms. Potts dressed so casually; Pepper was always so polished and professional.

Happy looked over his shoulder at them. "Have fun in there. I'm going to get something to eat."

Pepper led the way into a modern lingerie boutique with a French name, _Eres_. She spoke softly to a woman working there, who showed them to the swimsuit area of the store.

"Alright," the red-head addressed Julia, "take your pick. Tony said that you should have at least two, so get whatever you want."

She blinked several times and gazed about. The interior was bright, uncomplicated, and the displays were tastefully arranged. How on earth was she going to choose? Julia had never enjoyed shopping or malls or so-called "girly" things. If there was something that she had to buy, she went and got it without much fuss or browsing or expense. Shopping like this was way out of her comfort zone; she realized just how valuable her younger sister could be in a situation like this.

"I really don't know where to begin," she finally confessed.

Pepper motioned to a saleswoman who came over quickly with a smile on her face. "My friend would like to get some bathing suits."

"I don't know what style would be best for my, um, shape." Julia felt so uncomfortable, but tried to stay cool.

The woman eyed her carefully. "You appear to have an hourglass figure, but you also look quite athletic. Might I suggest something like this, or possibly this?"

It took a while, but after taking several items to a change room, Julia examined herself in a mirror. The deep pink, one-piece suit didn't seem like something she would have chosen, but she liked how it looked on her. Taking it off and putting it aside, she tried on a couple others before finding another one that she felt really good about. It was a black bikini that hugged her body just the right way, yet wasn't skimpy. That made two – time to check out. Julia changed and gathered the two swimsuits that she'd selected. The tiny price tag caught her eye. She stifled a gasp and rapidly checked the price on the other. Both were over three hundred dollars.

There was a knock at the door and Pepper's voice could be heard. "Hey, is everything alright?"

She opened the door and stared at her. "This place is expensive…" Julia whispered.

Virginia looked slightly taken aback; she was clutching several lingerie items of her own.

"I really don't need a luxury European bathing suit."

"Tony told me to take you to the best place, somewhere that I would shop, and this is it."

"But… I can't accept something like this!"

There was a sympathetic sigh from the other woman. "This is what Tony is like – he buys things for people. Even before Afghanistan he was the same way; though perhaps in a more roundabout manner. The point is, he knows that he's well-off and he's not afraid of spending money. Tony is extravagant, but he's also generous. When he wants to do something for someone, he goes all out. When he asked me to take you shopping today, he wanted you to be completely satisfied. He doesn't have any ulterior motives; he just wants you to be happy."

Julia paused and considered this information. It was true. Since they had returned home from overseas, she had seen first-hand that willingness to give and to share. "You're right, Virginia. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Let's buy this stuff!"

* * *

Arriving at Stark's house an hour later, the women found Tony and Yinsen lounging at a table in the middle of lunch. It looked like his chef was in today, since the meal was not something that the two of them could have just whipped up.

"Well, how did it go?" Tony asked with a grin.

"It was fine," Pepper replied.

"Can I see what you bought?" There was a mischievous tone in his voice.

"No, you may not."

"Julia?"

"I'm going for a swim, so you'll have to look out a window or something."

Yinsen entered into the conversation; "Are either of you hungry?"

"No, thanks. Happy picked up some lunch for us while we were in the city." Pepper checked her smart phone. "Tony, you do remember that Obadiah is coming by later?"

"Yes," he sighed. "I hope that he's not going to be all gloom and doom again."

"Well, you'll have to prepare yourself for it in case he mentions stocks."

Julia excused herself and went to her room to change. She was a little nervous about everyone seeing her in either swimsuit, but decided to conquer whatever fears she harboured by wearing the black bikini first. Wrapping a bathrobe around herself, she quickly snuck down to the floor of the house that she could easily access the pool. There were towels waiting by the door and she took one with her when she stepped outside.

It was quite hot out there. Julia realized that she hadn't been outside much since she'd returned home; maybe another subconscious holdover from being in a cave for three months. Depositing both towel and robe onto a nearby reclining chair, she positioned herself at the deep end of the pool and stared into the calm blue water below. Without thinking too much about it, she dove in. There was that familiar sound of the water breaking as she went below the surface, then the muffled quiet of being completely immersed. The water itself was a perfect temperature between warm and cool, just comfortable without being frigid or like a bath.

She came to the surface and inhaled deeply, tasting the air that was mildly salty due to the proximity to the ocean. This was how she had imagined it would be like. After treading water a moment, she let herself sink down and opened her eyes to the aqua world, feeling a sense of freedom.

Julia swam for a while. It was only when she was floating on her back that she noticed a figure watching from a deck above. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she recognized Tony; he had both arms on the railing and was gazing down intently.

"Looking good!" he hollered, and waved a hand.

She smiled back, but it quickly faded from her face when she noticed someone else approach the end of the deck.

As before, he was formally dressed in a shirt and tie, only this time with sunglasses. Obadiah Stane peered at her, then waved.

Julia acknowledged him, then swam to the nearest ladder to get out of the pool. She wasn't much for tanning, but did feel like lying out in the sun for a bit, even though she wasn't completely relaxed with her audience of two. They appeared to be deep in conversation; maybe about her. She speculated as to how that discussion would go – given Tony's history with women, and that Mr. Stane had already seen her in the house – and it wasn't going to be the greatest for her own reputation.

* * *

"So, who is this girl, Tony?"

"She's not just some girl, Obi; she's a friend of mine."

"I'm sure she is…"

"What was that? Sarcasm? Are you doubting whether or not I have female friends?"

"Not at all. It's just that the 'friends' I've seen generally don't live in and aren't around for over a day or two."

"Well, this is different."

"Yes, very. Not a supermodel, not an actress, not a waitress, but air force. Are we playing a different field here?"

"You don't even know how I met her; she could be Rhodey's sister for all you know."

"If Rhodey had a sister."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, she's staying here as my guest."

"What was her name… Ramirez? You've given her a lot of access to the place. I mean, access to the shop? Or does she just deliver drinks?"

Tony glared in response.

"It's alright pal. Whatever makes you happy." Even though Stane's sunglasses concealed his eyes, the way he was eyeing the woman's form was unmistakable. "And she's certainly enough to keep anyone happy. But we've got business to discuss… Who's that?"

Tony followed his gaze and turned around to see Yinsen walking around inside the house. "Another friend of mine. Yinsen! I'd like you to meet someone."

The doctor stepped out onto the desk and leaned on his cane.

"This is my mentor, Obadiah Stane, and this is Yinsen, an extremely talented surgeon."

"Pleasure to meet you," Stane said as they shook hands. "Would I be correct in thanking you for keeping Tony alive in Afghanistan?"

"Perhaps, but it was Stark's own will to live that kept him going."

"Yes, that and some nice hardware. Had you ever done anything like that before?"

"Install electrical devices into people's chests? Yes."

"Well, I think you could definitely pioneer a new field of medicine with that knowledge."

"There are always new things to learn. If you would excuse me, I must do some walking for my leg."

The men watched him leave, then resumed talking.

"You keep your doctor in-house?"

"When he's on vacation."

"I'm aware of the official reports, Tony. Yinsen and Ramirez were both in that cave with you."

"Then why the third degree with all those questions?"

"I just wanted to see how you'd react," he said with a deep chuckle. "Seriously though, it's nice that you can have them here. I'll admit, I've never known you to be so hospitable."

"After you've shared an experience like that, you're not going to be the same person as before."

"I think I'm finally understanding a little more about you and your new direction." The older man clapped him on the back and smiled.

* * *

"I hope that you put some sunscreen on before lying out to bake."

Julia opened her eyes to see Yinsen approaching. "No, actually I forgot to."

He held out a bottle to her and she began applying it.

"That one is mineral based, so it should work right away. Perhaps I should put some on as well," he murmured, glancing at his forearms; the rest of his sleeves were rolled up.

"You need some vitamin D – you'll be fine if you sit out here five minutes."

"Ah, you're probably right." The doctor looked up toward the two men standing on the deck. "I was just introduced to Mr. Obadiah Stane."

"Really? How was that?"

"Fine, I suppose."

She also gazed at them. "I don't think he's too thrilled with our presence here."

"I agree with you. Though it must seem rather unusual for a man of Tony Stark's status and reputation to suddenly have guests, considering that his guests usually come in the form of inebriated socialites and party-goers."

"Yeah…"

"And don't forget, the rest of the world believes that he is either on the verge of a breakdown, or suffering from post-traumatic stress, or both. That press conference…" he sighed, "His heart is in the right place, that's what matters."

They were both quiet for a moment before Julia spoke again. "I think I'm going to take another swim, and then I'll come inside."

"Alright." Yinsen stood with a bit of difficultly, though he tried not to show it.

"How are you feeling today?"

"A little stiff; I think I did too much work the other day. Tony has arranged for some physiotherapy sessions for me to attend, starting tomorrow."

"Well, you probably need it."

He sighed. "I know… He's even arranged for sessions with a counselor."

"And you'll be going to those as well?"

"Yes. Though I can't convince him to see one, and he really should. He has the rest of us being taken care of."

"My counseling is through the air force."

Yinsen smiled a bit. "And Tony Stark is paying for it, along with a specialist."

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

"Something was said in passing when he was getting everything set up. He wanted to make sure that we were both getting the best care possible."

"Oh… wow…"

"Don't mention it to him – he doesn't want the recognition."

"No, of course…"

Julia sat there staring into the pool. It was astonishing how Tony had looked after every little detail for them. She remembered a conversation that the three of them had had in the cave; Tony didn't have a family to return to, whereas she and Yinsen did – or at least Yinsen said he did. Julia realized that Tony was treating them like he would family, making the two of them _his_ family.

* * *

By the time Julia walked into the workshop later that afternoon, Tony and Yinsen were already hard at work. Stane had left not too long ago, and the atmosphere seemed to relax. She knew that his presence stressed out Tony because it reminded him of the responsibilities that loomed outside of his tranquil home.

"Hey, are you finally here to help?" he called out jokingly. "You ditch us to go shopping and then lounge poolside…"

"Thanks Tony."

"Don't mention it."

"So, what are we working on right now?"

Yinsen answered that question. "We're finishing up the exterior and armoured plating; actually, it's in the finally manufacturing stage and it should be completed by this evening."

"That fast? Wow!"

"Most of the designs were already discussed and drawn up while we were doing the rest of the suit, so it didn't take that long to put all of that together," Tony explained. "My only concern is that all of the pieces fit together properly, I mean, I have to be able to get in and out of the suit easily. I want to do some tests on the full thing after dinner."

"Sounds good." Julia strolled over to one of the worktables where another rocket boot was under construction. "This looks like the beginnings of another suit."

"The Mark III. Everything we've learned from the Mark II is going into this, and it should be ready in half the time. The Mark II is a prototype, kind of."

"You've got quite the assembly line going here." She turned around and was a little startled by Tony, who was standing close with a strange expression on his face.

"What?" she asked slowly, a little suspicious. A quick look at Yinsen didn't enlighten her – he just sat there with a faint smile.

"Hold out your hands and close your eyes," Tony instructed her.

She did so with no visible hesitation. Julia felt him place a small, weighty object in her hands. It seemed slightly warm.

"Ok."

Opening her eyes, she stared at what rested in her palms – glowing a familiar blue, the arc reactor looked like a futuristic gem. "For the Mark III? I thought you would power it yourself."

"Yes, but this one's for you," he spoke quietly.

"What? I don't understand."

Yinsen stood from his place at the workbench; behind him was another pair of gauntlets already in progress. "We are also creating another suit for you to wear."

"For me…?" Her jaw dropped, she was completely speechless.

"It's like this," Tony finally started to explain, "I wanted Rhodey to be a part of this project – he's air force, and he would love this – but that didn't really work out. He'll probably come around later, but anyways, you and Yinsen are the only other people who know about the suits. And I realized that having someone else in the air with me would be just as important. And I know you are more than capable of handling this, and you deserve it."

"But this is… this is…"

"Huge? I know. Maybe it's too much all at once, but I really think that you should have your own suit. Don't think of it as a job, more like a hobby."

Julia laughed, still astonished. "My gosh, what can I say to this? Yes! This is incredible!" He grinned and she threw her arms around him, then she embraced Yinsen as well. "I can't believe you were secretly working on this."

"Well, you've been out of the house quite a bit in the past couple days, so naturally we had the time," the doctor replied.

"So are you going to have a suit as well?"

"No, no – my place is on the ground."

"There is a catch," Tony added. "You'll have to do a lot of the building yourself. We've got all of the plans and the robots, and you worked on the first one, so it shouldn't be that hard."

"Thank you Tony, this is amazing."

He looked almost bashful. "You're welcome."

* * *

**_A/N: _**The moment you're finished writing a review, please check out "Shinjitsu No Uta (Song of Truth)" by _xoxoMyRealityIsFiction_ – it's an awesome Iron Man story that you're going to love. Go there, as in now!


	8. Just a Man

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_To make up for such a long wait time in between chapters, I've written an extra long chapter! Truth be told, I just couldn't stop writing it… Needless to say, lots happens.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Just a Man**

Yinsen hadn't been joking when he said that the armour for the Mark II would be ready that evening. For the next few hours after dinner, Tony assembled the entire suit for the first time. He was moving swiftly and had an enthusiastic energy that was especially noticeable. Julia was also eager to put the suit together, yet her mind kept going over the gift that Tony Stark had presented to her earlier that day – the beginning of her own suit. She grinned just thinking about it.

"Ok, I think we're ready to get me in this thing," Tony announced.

"You're sure that your system will be able to get you bolted in safely?" the doctor asked, referring to the robotic arms that would put the suit on.

"Oh yeah… I'm pretty sure."

"Alright, because I don't have the Jaws of Life sitting around in case we can't get you out."

Tony chuckled. "It'll be fine. Let's do this."

He wore a black, skin-tight outfit and the basic framework of the suit. The exterior parts were brought forward and secured in place over his entire body until he stood in a gleaming, silver suit of armour. It was very well the most impressive thing that he'd ever built – Julia realized that instantly.

The next step was transferring J.A.R.V.I.S. over to the suit to run the heads-up display Tony had designed. Doing that would allow him to connect with his artificial intelligence system on a long-range basis and it would provide exactly the type of network to run the suit's interface.

"I've got Jarvis uploaded," Tony informed them. His voice sounded deep and synthesized through the vocal processing of the Mark II.

Julia went over to one of the many computers and slipped on a headset with a microphone. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Yinsen also put on a headset and gazed at a screen. "The readings from the arc reactor are excellent, as are your vitals. How is the fit? You don't want to feel any tightness or discomfort; that could lead to cramps or decreased circulation."

"No, it all feels good. I was expecting the helmet to be a little claustrophobic, but the three-dimensional heads-up display is actually really nice. I'm going to do the virtual walk-around and check control surfaces."

Nearly every piece of the silver exterior moved and adjusted until everything was checked and fit properly. Standing in that suit, Tony Stark looked invincible.

"Test complete," the British voice of Jarvis announced. "Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

"Uhh, yeah… Tell you what – do a weather and ATC check, start this thing in on ground control."

"What?" Julia exclaimed. "No way, Tony. This is the first time you've been fully suited up; there is no way you're taking this out for a test drive. This is not a car or a motorcycle."

Her voice was joined by Yinsen's; "It's not safe, we've done no tests. If you should happen to fall into the ocean, you'll sink like a stone. The flight aspects still need to be examined from the point of view of the arc reactor."

Tony gazed at the two of them through the mask's illuminated eyes. "We didn't do any tests in the cave with the Mark I and we were fine. We've done a good job building this and I feel confident that I can fly it. Just follow me on the screens; we'll be able to communicate on there."

Finally Jarvis interjected, "Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed to do before an actual flight is…"

"Jarvis – sometimes you've got to run before you can walk. Ready in three, two, one…"

The thrusters on the boots fired in tandem and he rose off the ground. Aiming for the curved driveway that led up to ground level, Stark soared out of sight. Julia was astounded that he hadn't ricocheted off the concrete walls. Turning their attention back to the computers, they saw that he was flying out above the house, hollering the entire time.

"Handles like a dream!" he yelled.

Yinsen pointed to one of the screens that showed what Tony was seeing; he was flying past a Ferris wheel and the visuals zoomed in on two children who gawked at him in amazement.

The doctor covered the microphone on his headpiece and spoke to Julia. "His heart-rate is quite elevated and he's probably got the adrenaline pounding, but other than that everything's looking good. The arc reactor is performing wonderfully."

"That's good. As long as he takes it easy because…"

"Alright, let's see what this thing can do. What's SR-71's record?" Tony asked Jarvis.

"The altitude for fixed wing flight is eighty-five thousand feet, sir."

"Records are made to be broken. Come on!"

"Tony, what the heck are you doing?" Julia spoke sternly. Her eyes tracked the alarming vertical progress he was rapidly making.

"I've gotta see how high this will go!"

"Absolutely not! This is the first time you've ever been in it; you can't push it to the limits on the first go."

"Well, I've got to do it sometime so it might as well be now."

"You don't even know if it will be able to maintain the air pressure inside," Yinsen added.

"It's ok – I can do this! Higher!" Tony was oblivious to their pleas.

The normally calm voice of Jarvis even had a tone of warning in it; "Sir, there is a potentially fatal build-up of ice occurring."

"Higher!"

He was almost there, thousands of feet up in the sky. The systems began to flicker, and then went black.

"Tony? Tony!" Julia shouted.

"Stark? Can you hear us?"

"Jarvis, what's happened?" she asked.

"I'm afraid that the connection with the Mark II has been lost. The ice was beginning to shut down the interface and the suit was losing power."

"What do you mean 'lose power'? Did the thrusters cut out?"

"Most likely, Ms. Ramirez."

"So he's free-falling right now?" Yinsen's question was more of a statement.  
"Jarvis, is there anything we can do?"

"Attempting to reboot and re-establish connection now."

"I need an estimated distance from the ground based on the terminal velocity of the suit."

"Right away, Ms. Ramirez."

Within a couple seconds there was a scale of Tony's last recorded height and the rate of speed that he was plummeting back to earth. From the calculations, it was only a matter of seconds before impact, and the connection had not been re-established yet.

Julia yelled into the microphone once more, hoping that the audio might be working. "Tony, if you can hear me, you have to reboot the suit. Tony? Darn it, Stark!"

She and Yinsen glanced at each other, keeping their dark thoughts to themselves.

Suddenly the systems sparked to life and the energy levels of the thrusters spiked back to where they should have been. Stark's voice came through the headphones with an exhilarating howl. The interface showed that he'd only _just_ gotten the suit functioning; he'd been less than fifty feet to the ground before rocketing upwards once more.

Julia sank into a chair, feeling weak with relief. "You're alright?"

"Yeah! Everything cut out there for a while."

"Don't do that again."

He chuckled; "No, I'm heading back."

Yinsen took a handkerchief from his pocket and put it to his forehead. "That was close."

"He could have died right there!" she exclaimed. "He's going to hear it when he gets back!"

"Julia, this is Tony Stark we're talking about. He's always been a risk-taker and quite reckless, as you should be well aware."

"I know, but…" she sighed. "He scared the heck out of me!"

"And you think that I'm perspiring for no reason? That's how he is; I've come to accept it, but that doesn't mean that I've stopped caring."

"So I'm supposed to sit back and let him pull stunts like this?"

"Do you think you could stop him?"

She let out her breath through clenched teeth and stared back at the computer screens.

"Hey guys, I'm right above the house," Tony informed them. "I'm going to land on the roof, then do another take-off and fly back into the shop. Ok – kill power."

A couple moments after he'd spoken, there was a terrific crash and huge hole opened in the ceiling of the workshop – chunks of drywall poured downwards, along with Stark in the Mark II. All of it landed directly on one of Tony's prized cars, his 1967 Shelby Cobra, completely trashing the pristine vintage model. Yinsen and Julia had ducked behind the table and stood when the sounds of falling objects ceased. There was already a cloud of dust created by the drywall. As Tony lay on the car, his robot, Dummy, doused him in fire extinguisher once more, making the air of the workshop a thick, white haze.

"Tony!" they shouted in unison, rushing over to him and coughing on the dust.

"Dummy, he's not on fire – stop!"

"Can you sit up? Are you hurt? Can you hear me?"

Raising an arm, Tony detached the front part of his helmet and gazed into the concerned faces of his friends. "Get me out of this thing…"

It took about ten minutes to remove the armoured suit in its entirety. Yinsen went into doctor mode and started examining Tony for signs of head injury or concussion, and Julia went to the refrigerator for an ice pack.

"I think you're landings are getting better," Yinsen quipped dryly.

"Better?" Julia asked from across the room.

"Yes – this time he wasn't hundreds of feet in the sky before he hit the ground."

"Well, I almost did a repeat of that tonight as well. The controls are so touchy on this thing!" Tony muttered. "I should've known better; that was stupid…"

Yinsen stood from his chair and stifled a yawn. "I've had more than enough excitement for one evening. I'm going to bed. Tony, you'll be fine, just put some ice on that bump. And no more flying tonight, alright?"

"Yes, doctor."

He whispered to Julia as he walked towards the elevator. "Keep an eye on him."

She nodded in response, though not really sure of what it was she should be watching for.

"Good night!" Yinsen called out.

"Good night," the other two replied in unison.

Julia handed the ice pack to Tony. "Are you going to keep working?"

"Yeah... I've got to go through all the data of the flight and fix that icing problem. I would like to test it tomorrow along with the Mark III."

"Didn't you just start the Mark III?"

"It's almost done actually. The arm stabilizers are finished, and I've only got a couple things to do on the leg thrusters. The exterior still needs some work, but we can go over that tonight. Wait, do you want to call it a night?"

"No, I'm going to stay up with you."

"Great! Thanks." He stood quickly and faltered, clutching the ice pack to where he'd managed to hit his head. "I'm fine."

Julia watched him stalk off, quietly cursing himself and kicking his mechanic's creeper around. She knew that he was angry at himself, probably for getting too far ahead of his capabilities and running into something completely unexpected. Tony Stark prided himself on being the man of the future. In the end though, he was still just a man.

* * *

It wasn't until two that morning that Tony and Julia decided to call it quits and get some sleep. She slept soundly for the rest of that night, having worked hard both physically and mentally. It was only at the sound of Jarvis' wake-up call that she stirred. Julia blinked at the California light filtering into her room, and lay there for several minutes before finally getting up.

Upon strolling out to the kitchen, she found Yinsen dressed to go somewhere, finishing a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Good morning. Are you going out?"

"Yes, I've got a physiotherapy session today. I'll be back in the afternoon."

Tony also entered the kitchen and gave them both a bleary stare. He didn't seem to have slept that well, and his disheveled hair was photo-worthy. "Oh, right, you've got that thing today. Morning everyone. Where's the coffee?"

Yinsen pointed and he shuffled over to it.

The measured voice of Jarvis came through the air. "Incoming message from Mr. Hogan."

"Go ahead," the doctor replied.

"Hi Yinsen? I've got the car at the front for you. Come on out whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, I'll be right along."

"Morning Hogan," Tony mumbled.

"Good morning, boss. Hey, you'll probably want to know that Pepper's on her way."

"When's she coming?"

"Now. A car is just pulling up."

Julia's eyes widened. "Tony! The piano!" she whispered. Last night they'd discovered that his rooftop landing had also demolished his one-hundred-and-forty thousand dollar grand piano just off the living room; something that his personal assistant would most definitely notice.

"Thanks Hogan!" Tony sprinted out of the kitchen, his sock-clad feet sliding on the smooth floors. "Maybe we can screen it with something."

Julia had rushed out after him and gaped at the damage – it was much worse in the daylight. "I don't think that's an option."

"Then we'll just have to keep her from coming into this room. Come on!" He started running for the front door, anxious to stop Virginia Potts.

Tony rounded a corner quickly, didn't see the woman, and stopped too late to avoid colliding with her. Only a few steps behind him, Julia narrowly avoiding running into them, but was just in time to see the folder in Pepper's arms go flying as she lost her balance on her high heels. Seemingly out of nowhere, a man behind the red-head deftly caught her.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" she exclaimed in gratitude, then glared at her boss. "Tony, what on earth are you doing? You've got a perfectly good treadmill downstairs!"

"I'm sorry. Let me help you with that." He knelt and scooped up all the papers into a rather messy stack. "How has your day been?"

"It was going well – until you plowed me over like a tractor. It's a good thing that Marius was here or else that could've been nasty."

"Marius?" he asked blankly.

Pepper gestured to the man standing next to her. "I guess you haven't met. This is Marius Dellinger, he's Obadiah's assistant. Marius, Tony Stark."

They shook hands. Tony took a good look at him, like he'd completely missed his presence. "I didn't know that Obi had an assistant."

"When you were… away, Obadiah felt that he needed some support because he suddenly had so much to deal with," Pepper explained.

"Oh…"

Julia's eyes scanned the newcomer, taking in as much information as possible. Dellinger was a tall man with a muscular build that could be detected in spite of the well-tailored suit he wore. He didn't seem like the assistant type, but for someone like Obadiah Stane, Dellinger was likely more than capable. Tony greeted him a little less warmly than Julia had expected, and she noticed him tense up.

"Well, we've got to pick up some paperwork before we head to the office," Virginia prompted. "So if I could just slip past you…"

"Uh, actually, no." Tony remembered his mission and took a step to block the hallway that led to the living room.

She gawked at him, then her eyes narrowed. "Is there something going on I should know about?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then why aren't you letting me past?" She looked over at Julia. "What happened?" her tone had a tired annoyance.

"Ok, ok…" he interjected. "I kinda made a mess in there last night and might have broken something, but I didn't want you to worry about it. It's my responsibility, I'll clean it up."

Pepper stared at him in disbelief. "I could've sworn that you said 'responsibility'." She grinned and went off in another direction towards the house office.

"Hey, I can be serious about things!" Tony insisted, following her.

Dellinger and Julia were left standing in the entranceway, creating an awkward silence. She decided to speak first; "Julia Ramirez – I'm with the air force."

"Nice to meet you," he replied and shook her hand.

Before she could think of a subject for some small talk, a voice hailed her to the Rolls Royce waiting just outside the front door. Excusing herself, she approached the window and looked in at Yinsen.

"If Mr. Dellinger will be staying for any length of time, please stay nearby."

Julia's brow furrowed, she wasn't sure why he was asking her this. "Alright."

"I noticed something on Tony's face when they were introduced."

She glanced back at the house and didn't see Dellinger. "I should probably get back in there."

"Have a good day. You two keep out of trouble," Yinsen said with a smile.

After the car left, Julia walked inside and in the direction of the voices, which turned out to be the kitchen. Pepper and Dellinger had joined Tony in having a cup of coffee.

"I need to grab those papers from your office, then we've got to get to the company offices," she informed him and quickly walked from the room.

"So, you're Obadiah's assistant," Tony started.

Dellinger gave him a steady look – Pepper's introduction had already clarified that. "Yes, I am."

"You just don't seem like the 'assistant' type, and I can't imagine Obi needing one either."

"I've got a technical background, so Mr. Stane felt that I would be qualified to help with different aspects than Virginia might handle."

"I see. So you've probably had to work with her a lot in the past few months."

"Yes, it's been my pleasure."

"Uh huh…"

A faint chime echoed from one of Dellinger's suit pockets and he pulled out a Blackberry smartphone. "Speaking of Virginia, it seems she needs some help with documents," he said after reading the text message he'd received.

"I can show you the way to the office."

"Thank you, but I know my way around."

Tony looked like he would crush the coffee mug in his hand, but Dellinger had already left the room. "How could he know his way around unless he'd already been here?" he half-spluttered, half-whispered. "Has he been in my house? He's been in my house! He's been with Pepper in my house!"

"He's probably come here to do work. It's likely that Stane has too."

"But Obi's different – I know him. I don't know this guy, and right now I feel like he's looked in my underwear drawer and taken a photo of me while I was sleeping." He spun around and marched toward the office.

This is exactly what Yinsen has been talking about. "Whoa, where are you going?" Julia asked, going after him. She could hear the sound of feminine laughter before they had reached the office. Tony peered in and gaped at the scene. Julia stood behind him and looked over his shoulder.

Pepper was seated in the executive chair and Dellinger was next to her leaning on the desk; yet it was the flirtatious nature of it all that had stopped Tony in his tracks, like his worst fears had been confirmed. Julia had to admit, it did seem as though this hunky assistant was making time with Stark's assistant. Tony stalked over to a window and stared out at the ocean. Being close to her room, Julia went in and flopped into a chair; he probably needed a moment of quiet with his thoughts.

The voice of Jarvis came through the air. "Ms. Ramirez, a message from Ms. Potts."

"Go ahead."

"Hi Julia, I've got a call for you."

"I'll take it in my room. Thanks."

She leaned over and picked up the white receiver. It was her mother; her family was having a special lunch that afternoon for one of her brothers because it was his anniversary that weekend. Instead of having a dinner, they would have an afternoon meal so that he and his wife could catch their flight that would eventually get them to Bali, Indonesia. Without Happy to drive her, she would have to borrow one of Tony's cars to get there, but he probably wouldn't mind. Julia noticed Tony standing at her doorway as she spoke. At that moment he looked like a little boy whose father didn't have enough time to play ball with him.

"You're leaving too?" he asked after she'd finished the call.

"My family's having an anniversary lunch for my brother and his wife – I really should go."

He nodded in response.

There was no way she could leave him on his own like this, especially when he knew she'd be having a good time with her family. "My Mom would love to meet you; why don't you come?"

* * *

He let her drive the Audi R8. Down the coastal roads and freeways where she could really put the pedal down. It was exhilarating. Tony actually seemed content sitting in the passenger seat, and gave her driving tips for the high-performance car. It took a little over an hour to get from Malibu to the Ramirez house in Downey, but the time seemed to pass quickly. When they came to her neighbourhood, Julia suddenly felt self-conscious about him seeing her family home – he was accustomed to lavish surroundings and a completely different crowd of people.

Mrs. Ramirez greeted her with open arms as she walked in the door. "Julia! I'm so glad you could come. And this is… Tony Stark?" She gasped his name and everyone came over to stare at the visitor.

"He needs a good home-cooked meal, Mom."

"Well, you've come to the right place, young man!" The older woman embraced him and whispered something in his ear.

Julia moved on to talk with her family that were spread out through the kitchen and living room, but watched Tony out of the corner of her eye. He and her mother were having some sort of intimate conversation. A tight squeeze on her arm refocused her attention to her younger sister, Florentina.

"Oh my gosh, it's him! He's really here!" she fairly squeaked in delight. "He's gorgeous – so much better than the pictures!"

"Uh huh," she murmured, as she unlatched the girl's fingers from her arm.

"So I guess this means you are an item; you're dating Tony Stark. I can't wait to tell Lindsay that Tony Stark was in my home!"

"You dare to breathe a word of this and…"

"I'm just kidding – you take everything so seriously. But I want a photo with him. Actually, like five photos."

"And Tina, we are not dating."

"Ok, whatever. Though I don't know how you could control yourself around him. I would totally…"

"Don't want to hear it. Now, please try your best not to drool on him, ok?"

Tina rolled her eyes and practically ran up to him as he started to make his way around, meeting everyone.

Throughout lunch and the rest of the afternoon, Julia watched Tony as he interacted with her family. He was respectful, sociable, and surprisingly modest. With his wit, charm, and humor, he easily broke the ice and made everyone feel comfortable, and his smile was simply irresistible. Yet, as much as possible he also tried to divert the attention from himself to the couple celebrating their anniversary. After all, he said, it was _their_ special day. Ever since their ordeal as captives, Julia had admired him, but today she'd found another reason to be especially proud of Tony Stark.

The only time when she'd felt any anxiety – aside from that brief moment when they walked up to the house – was when her sister took a seat beside Tony after the meal was finished and some people had dispersed. Julia rolled her own eyes when she saw Tina giggling and batting her eyes at him and getting overwhelmingly flirtatious. It was only when Tony suddenly tensed and started making a subtle, yet desperate, effort to move away from the girl that Julia snuck a look under the table. Sure enough, she discovered her sister's hand rubbing Tony's thigh and his hand struggling to remove it.

Julia got his attention and mouthed the words "Get ready". He nodded in response. Then she picked up a dinner roll and took a well-aimed shot at Tina's head. The bun bounced off the girl's forehead, momentarily stunning her, and Tony practically jumped up from his chair.

"Mom! Julia just threw bread at me!"

Mrs. Ramirez shook her head. "Please dear, don't fight at the table."

Julia grinned smugly at her sister and Tina stuck her tongue out at her in return.

When it came time for Julia and Tony to leave, many photos were taken and there were plenty of hugs all around. They walked swiftly to the car to avoid the many curious looks from neighbours, and after a final wave, they drove off. It was another hour's drive back to Malibu, and both of them wanted to return as soon as possible so that Yinsen wouldn't have to be alone for very long.

"Thank you for today," Tony said after a while.

"You're welcome, it was my pleasure. I'm glad that you got to meet my family. They adore you."

"They're amazing. You're really blessed."

"I am," Julia said with a smile.

There was a pause, then he continued talking. "And your sister, Tina, is very lovely."

She glanced over and saw a mischievous smirk on his face. "And very young – she's not even out of her teens."

"And very persistent."

"I noticed."

"Thanks for helping me out with that."

"I really didn't have a choice; she looked about ready to devour you."

"I wouldn't doubt it. I've seen that look before, from too many women. But I can't say that I haven't encouraged it."

"Would you have made a pass at her?"

"Tina? She's your sister – of course not!"

"I mean before Afghanistan. What if this was five months ago?"

He was quiet a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, I probably would have."

"What about now? What if she wasn't my sister?"

"No…" he said almost hesitantly, then more firmly, "No, I wouldn't."

Julia just looked at him and he glanced over at her.

"I know what you're thinking – the playboy who doesn't want to sleep around. Yeah, I guess it's true. It just feels like, that isn't enough anymore to keep me happy. No, it's not even that. It was more of a distraction… I feel like there's more I'm supposed to do than drink and gamble and sleep around. Like, I've got purpose now."

He gave her a crooked half-smile but his eyes were somber. Then, he lightened the mood a bit by suggesting that they put the car through its paces.

* * *

**_A/N: _**Things are really going to pick up with the story. Though we're nearing the end, many things still have to take place. Until then, let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	9. Something to Consider

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Another long chapter! A bit of a twist happens here. And the four letter for a promiscuous woman is used once (I'll give you a hint, it starts with 'S'). Hope that doesn't offend.

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Something to Consider**

"Hey, do you think Pepper noticed the piano?"

"Nah, she would've called to yell at me."

"Did you leave the house before her?"

"Yes, but she was preoccupied and I made her promise not to look in the living room."

"How are we supposed to clean it up?"

"I don't think we'd be able to call in a truck without Virginia finding out about it."

"But if we leave it there, she'll definitely find out."

"I'll deal with it tomorrow. Pepper's not scheduled to be here until the day after, so that will give us plenty of time to deal with it."

Tony, Julia, and Yinsen had been down in the workshop since the late afternoon – after the former two had returned from visiting Julia's family – and had only stopped for dinner. Greger had come in to make the evening meal for them, but hadn't been in the living room, so there was no reason to think that he might tell Stark's assistant.

"Unless Dellinger went wandering around…" Julia speculated aloud.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did. I still can't get over the fact that he 'knows his way around'," Tony grumbled. "Why didn't Pepper mention him before?"

"Well, Stane didn't say anything either; shouldn't he have brought that up?" Yinsen added.

"Yeah, I guess so… Obi never even talked about getting an assistant before. I didn't expect everything to change like it did."

"I must admit, that I'm not very fond of Mr. Stane."

"I didn't think you were." Julia had noticed the way the doctor would give the other man wary looks, and speak cautiously when he was around.

Tony, however, was surprised. "What? Why not?"

"I just have a feeling about him. When you mentioned that he was aware of the reports about Julia and I, and knew some things about our being in Afghanistan, I became suspicious."

"Of what?"

"I'm not sure yet, but it's something to do with the information, his access to it. Now I'm wondering just how much he knows, and how he's using that information."

"Come on Yinsen – he's my friend, he's just looking out for me."

"And, if you haven't noticed, he seems quite interested in your arc reactor."

"It's not like he's told anybody!"

"Not even his assistant? The one he didn't tell you about?"

Tony was silent.

"Though I doubt that this is so, there is the possibility that Mr. Dellinger is on a fact-finding mission for Stane, to learn about the arc reactor."

"But he's been around since I was in Afghanistan. Theories aside, I don't appreciate him being here, but I don't think that he's a spy. Besides, he's too obvious. And Pepper would know that something was up."

"She seemed pretty friendly with him earlier today," Julia chimed in.

"Yeah, I was trying to forget that." He sighed. "I can't see Pepper with someone like him – he's too… quiet!"

"I guess we'll have to get her to put things straight when she's in again."

"That's for sure!" Tony agreed.

* * *

The trio was up early the next morning, despite the fact that they had worked late the night before. The Mark III was nearly complete and there was a nearly tangible amount of anticipation surrounding the testing for it. Most of the kinks in the Mark II had already been sorted out and Tony had set it aside for the time being. As for Julia's suit, she had been labouring over it, eager to get hers completed as well. Julia couldn't wait to be flying the skies with Tony – but there was still a lot of work that had to be done. They had decided to stay in the shop all day and get things finished so that tomorrow could be spent testing.

It was only quarter past eight in the morning when the door to the workshop opened and Tony's assistant marched in. Not only was it quite early for her to be visiting that part of the house – she usually came in the late morning – but it was also a day early. With the rock music blaring, no one heard her enter until she abruptly shut the sound off.

"Hey! What the…" Tony's annoyed tone faded out when he realized who was standing there. "Pepper? What are you doing here? I thought you were coming in tomorrow…"

By this time Julia and Yinsen had looked up and noticed the woman's fair complexion aflame. She had most likely seen the piano, or what was left of the piano, when she had walked toward the stairway leading to the shop.

"Tony, I can't believe you," she said through a clenched jaw.

"Ok, I'm sorry – this is exactly why I didn't want you to see it though."

"You shot a hole in your roof! If you're going to do missile experiments, why can't you just do them at the laboratories? We've got facilities and scientists up to our ears; why can't you use them?"

"Pepper, please, I said I was sorry."

"Just tell me why – it'll put my mind at ease while I get a contractor and some estimates for what the repairs are going to cost. And do you want a new piano?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Really, it's alright. It hardly rains in California so I don't mind a temporary skylight."

"Really? That's good. Because I've got things that are higher on my priority list to worry about."

Tony turned back to his work, waving his hand in the air in a dismissive manner. "Don't tell me – the company. I know, I know…"

"No, more like damage control. I'm sure you haven't seen the latest." Pepper dropped a newspaper on the workbench in front of him.

He glanced at it, then stared. Julia and Yinsen came over to read the headline and Julia's jaw dropped. It read: _Tony Stark's Suburban Love-Nest_ and was accompanied by a photo of he and Julia entering her home.

"Would someone explain this to me?" Pepper asked. "There's more."

She passed them several other newspapers with additional photos of the supposed couple entering or leaving the Ramirez house, and captions such as: _Air Force Romance Comes to Light_, _Tony's Secret Fiancé_, and _PTSD Never Looked So Good_.

"This is from yesterday; we went out for a bit."

"That's my family's house!" Julia gawked.

"Where did these photos come from?" Yinsen asked.

The assistant explained, "In Los Angeles, the upscale neighbourhoods especially, there are armies of paparazzi all scrambling to get pictures of celebrities. Potentially scandalous shots are worth far more."

"And paired with headlines like these, they have even more of an impact," the doctor stated.

Tony shrugged. "Well, it's definitely not the worst thing I've been caught doing. I'm sure this will all blow over in a day or two."

"No, it won't," Pepper countered. "We have to issue some sort of statement, otherwise any port-traumatic stress sympathy that you've been riding on is going to disappear."

"So you want everyone to think that I'm a bedridden invalid?"

"If it keeps the shares up, yes! Besides, I'm getting inundated with questions about Julia and her family."

"They're asking about me?"

"It's believed that you've been secretly dating – the tabloids want to know everything."

"This is ridiculous!"

"Don't worry about it." Tony said, trying to brush it off. "Happens all the time…"

"Maybe to you it does, but not to me," Julia replied sharply. The press will hound my family for days – if my sister says anything we'll never hear the end of it."

"Another story will come along and people will forget; that's what always happens."

"Tony, I have a career to worry about, a military career. This sort of thing doesn't just go away." She suddenly paused – everyone she'd ever worked with in the air force was going to hear about this, it was going to go on her record…

"Julia, Ms. Potts will work on damage control. We should be able to turn this around," Yinsen spoke soothingly.

"I want to know how this even happened in the first place." Her voice had hardened into the commanding tone she was used to using. "Downey is a suburban area far from where celebrities and actors live – what were paparazzi doing out there?"

"That is a good point," the doctor slowly replied. "I highly doubt that there would be anyone of interest in the same block as your residence, so it would not have been by chance that these photos were taken."

Virginia added to the current train of thought; "Someone could have called the press and told them; people can get money for that."

"But these photos are of when we arrived _and_ when we left. How would anyone know that we were coming? I invited Tony along at the last minute."

"Wait, are you saying that someone informed the paparazzi ahead of time to let them know we were coming?" Tony asked.

"Well, it would almost seem that way…" Yinsen said.

"But no one even knew we were going out."

"I knew," his assistant reminded him. "You told me that you and Julia would be out for the afternoon, and ordered me not to go into the living room for some strange reason."

"Ok, I meant aside from you."

Something clicked in Julia's mind. "What about Dellinger? He was here yesterday."

Virginia was quick to speak up for the man. "He was with me all day, and besides he's Obadiah's assistant and would never do anything like that!"

"With you all day, hmm?" Tony murmured and Pepper shot him an annoyed look.

"Wait, neither of you actually said _where_ you were going; you just said you were going out."

"Ms. Potts, you may have touched on something," Yinsen said carefully. "What if Stane is keeping an eye on Stark? Dellinger might discreetly mention to Mr. Stane that Tony is leaving the house, and then Stane finds out where he is going."

"Obi isn't going to inform the press on me!" Tony protested.

"No, but somewhere along the lines of communication someone might have found out and wanted to make a little extra cash on the side," Julia suggested.

"He is concerned about your decision-making abilities at this time, Tony."

"Obi would never spy on me though! It must have been a coincidence. Besides, this kind of press isn't going to hurt me, it'll probably help. People will just think that I've gone back to my old routine, business as usual."

"And what is this coverage supposed to do for me?" Julia demanded.

"You'll get to be in the spotlight for a bit, so just enjoy it."

"'Enjoy it'? Enjoy what? Being called a slut?"

"No, you know what I mean."

"No I don't. This is going to wreck my reputation."

"We're going to get a statement printed, it'll be fine."

"And some statement from Stark Industries is going to fix everything? So when Pratt reads that, he'll assume this was just a mistake and we're not involved – right." Her chest was tight with anger, it wasn't something that she'd felt in a long time.

"I'll talk to him then."

"It's not your place."

"But if these photos are going to mess up things between you and him…"

"Tony, stay out of this one," she said with a warning tone.

"If he was okay with us living in a cave together for three months then I don't see why this should be a problem."

"This is different."

"What's changed? You still love him, you're still dating…"

The momentary delay in Julia's response said more than she wanted to. "And living with a known womanizer is going to make that any better?"

The remark stung. Julia and Tony glared hard into each other's eyes for several moments while the other two persons in the room were scarcely breathing as they watched the heated exchange. It wasn't until Virginia's phone started ringing, breaking the silence, that the mood broke. Startled, she fumbled vigorously to pick up the call.

"Julia, I've got your mother on the line."

"I'll take it now."

She accepted the phone and moved towards the stairs, needing to get out of the workshop for a while. The sound of high heels followed her and the assistant murmured something about the two of them working on getting the situation resolved.

"Did something happen that I didn't hear about?" Tony asked aloud after the two women had left the workshop.

"I'm not sure. Julia hasn't said anything to me," Yinsen replied.

"Well then, what was that about? I thought everything was fine, I mean, they are dating, right?"

The other man shrugged.

"She and Pratt didn't break up, did they? She would have been upset then, right? Or would she keep it to herself? But she tells us everything, doesn't she?"

"Tony, I really don't know the answers to any of those questions. Some of them you may have to ask yourself, but don't interrogate her about it. If Julia doesn't want to talk about something, she won't."

"But…"

"Tony – all of us have things we don't talk about, no matter how well we know someone."

* * *

The rest of what had started out as a good morning was spent on the phone and conversing with Pepper Potts. Julia's mother was alarmed by the sudden presence of paparazzi on the front lawn of the family home. Fortunately she hadn't talked to any of them, and more importantly, neither had Julia's sister, Tina. Before doing anything else, Virginia had the order sent out to keep the press back to the perimeter of the house, then focused on the problem at hand.

Seated in the living room Virginia went into full administrative mode – as she skillfully balanced a phone between her shoulder and ear, her fingers typed rapidly on the keyboard of the laptop perched on her knees. After ending one of several calls, she looked directly at Julia.

"Ok, I need to know the full story here. Not that I'm trying to debrief you, but we need to get the facts straight, especially if we decide to take legal action."

Julia's eyebrows rose. "Legal action?"

"Don't worry, I've had to go through this before… many times," Pepper muttered the last two words.

"Well, yesterday my mom invited me to a meal with the family. I invited Tony to come along because I wanted him to meet my family and have a day off from working. I drove us out there, and we went directly to the house. We had a good time, were there for several hours and then we left together and drove back to Malibu. On the way back we stopped for gas, but I filled up the car so that Tony wouldn't have to get out and risk being recognized. That's about it."

"Alright then. I'll probably get Tony's thoughts on this, but I'm sure that your account is the most detailed and accurate. Now, this is the statement I'm envisioning, and let me know what you think: 'Mr. Stark is still recovering from his ordeal in Afghanistan and is not ready to be in the spotlight yet. Nevertheless, he expressed a desire to personally thank a member of the US Air Force for her dedication to his protection despite also being held hostage. Mr. Stark states, "Airman Ramirez went above and beyond the call of duty, and deserves the respect that she has earned from this dangerous situation."'"

"That sounds pretty good to me. What about the photos? They show us arriving and leaving in his car."

"The statement doesn't have to address every aspect of what the tabloids have said, it just has to state a reason for what was seen. This should also help to restore some respect to you. When we sue the press for defamation, details, like the lack of a relationship, will come to the fore. Julia, I want you to know that I've got this under control."

She sighed heavily. "I do, but this is crazy. What about everything I've heard about Tony in the headlines? And I don't mean the tabloids."

Virginia also sighed. "To be honest, it's simply not possible to keep absolutely everything out of the news. You didn't know Tony before Afghanistan – he was a playboy in every sense of the term. Damage control was more of a routine thing, making sure that he didn't upset too many people, or at least minimize the flare-ups. He's still Tony Stark, but he's changed a lot, and I believe that you and Yinsen are part of the reason." She paused a moment to let the thought sink in, then continued. "So, I think that covers everything. Would you like me to get Pratt on the phone?"

Julia's face darkened. "No, not right now… I'm going to be down in the weight room."

"Of course, go right ahead. Unless something else comes up, we're finished with this."

"Thank you Virginia."

"You're welcome. I hope everything turns out alright."

What she really needed right now was to blow off some stream. Julia could feel a build-up of anger and negative emotions just simmering beneath the surface. It had been a long time since she'd been this ticked off. In the air force when she was training, and especially on her tour overseas, she had developed different ways of controlling her emotions. Being surrounded by men most of the time, it was vital not to lose her cool, which would only result in unending taunting. Exercise proved to be an ideal method of channeling pent-up aggression; pushing herself to the point of exhaustion.

"Hey Jarvis," she called out, "could you play something with a beat? Something a little heavy?"

"Certainly, Ms. Ramirez."

With the background music in place, Julia donned a pair of boxing gloves and stretched her arms as she strode over to the large punching bag secured in the room. Staring at the smooth surface, she exhaled deeply and slammed her fist into it. Her left fist made contact immediately afterwards, almost reflexively. Punch after punch Julia pounded into the dense object, faster, harder. She could feel the perspiration starting to drip down her body. Jabbing, hooking, uppercutting, grunting from the effort. Striking the bag with her fists repeatedly. Breathing hard, panting, blood pulsing. Driving her shins into it, kicking swiftly, again with more force.

"Hey!"

Julia's right leg shot out in a spinning back kick. The only reason that she didn't knock Tony out was that he was standing a little further back and dodged quickly.

When she realized who the voice belonged to she halted her attack. "Don't… ever…" she gasped between breaths.

"I know, I'm sorry – you told me once not to sneak up on you from behind."

"I could've… Never while I'm in the zone…"

"Sorry." He gazed at her, his brown eyes serious. "Pepper and Yinsen and I were talking about everything, and I went ahead and called Pratt. Now please, just hear me out," he said quickly, raising his hands up in a pacifiying gesture. "I don't know what's going on in that part of your life, and if you want to keep it to yourself I respect that. I just wanted to let him know, man to man, what's not going on. After that is up to you."

Julia considered it carefully. "Alright."

"And, I'm sorry for not thinking about this whole thing would make you feel."

"I'm sorry for saying what I did."

"You're right though."

Julia averted her gaze.

"I've never had responsibilities like you've had, and sometimes, a lot of times, I forget that things don't work the same way in the real world."

"You've also grown up with all eyes on you – that fishbowl effect can't have been easy either."

"So, are we okay?" He looked a bit anxious.

"Yes. Yes we are." Even though she was hot and sweaty from exercising, she hugged him and he didn't seem to mind. "But seriously, don't sneak up on me like that."

Tony grinned. "I've never seen you in warrior mode. Where did you pick up those moves?"

"I took all the unarmed combat training that the air force offered, even the more advanced courses. I also took some kickboxing on the side; I thought I could use the edge since I'm a woman."

"Wow. Ever considered becoming a bodyguard, like for me?"

Julia laughed. "Get going Stark, I'm going to finish up here."

"Come up for lunch soon. Yinsen and I are cooking."

* * *

By the time Julia had finished a cool-down routine and showered, lunch was almost ready. The aroma of grilled sandwiches was noticeable even before she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey guys, it smells great…" she started, but stopped talking when she saw the expression on Tony's face. "What?"

"Guess who's coming to lunch."

She looked at him quizzically, then heard laughter echoing from the living room. Creeping down the hallway and peering around the corner, she caught sight of Marius Dellinger and Pepper sitting on the sofa. "Why's he here?" she asked when she'd returned to the kitchen.

"He dropped by to see how Ms. Potts was managing the scandal," Yinsen explained. "She invited him to stay for lunch before they go to the corporate office, and so here he is."

"What does she see in that guy?" Tony muttered, virtually sulking.

"Tony, go set the table," the doctor told him. "I'll finish up here." Once the other man had left he beckoned Julia closer. "I would like for you to serve the meal. If Tony does, it might end up in Dellinger's lap. Then I can keep an eye on him at the table, both of them actually."

"Do you think that he had anything to do with those photos and the paparazzi?"

"I'm not sure, but the more I think about it, the more plausible it seems. I doubt that he'll give anything away, but I want to observe him all the same."

"Did you mention it to Tony?"

"Briefly, but he won't hear of Mr. Stane's possible involvement. At the moment he is more concerned with Dellinger's attentions to Ms. Potts."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Tony re-entered the room. "Ok, table's set."

"We can eat now – would you get the others?" Yinsen asked.

"Uh, I'll get Jarvis to pass the word along. Need any more help?"

"No, Julia's serving, we can sit."

Several minutes later, everyone was seated and the food was safely delivered. Julia and Yinsen sat opposite Pepper and Dellinger, who both glanced at their smartphones periodically as they ate.

"Julia, you'll be happy to know that within forty-eight hours from now this story should be old news. The press have been responding quite well overall; in fact, they'll probably be clamouring for interviews anytime now."

"Unbelieveable. They're so quick to switch sides."

"You'll find that the paparazzi will do anything for a good story," Dellinger added.

"But, I don't have to do interviews, do I?"

"No, certainly not, but I must warn you that they will be very persistant," Pepper replied.

"This might be a good time to speak with Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, since he is a leason with Stark Industries," the other assistant suggested.

"That's a good point," Pepper agreed. "I'm not sure who would be dealing with the press in a situation like this, but I'd be more than happy to see it through."

Julia smiled. "Thanks Virginia."

"Ms. Ramirez, I'm surprised that your story hasn't come to light yet," Dellinger addressed her. "Or, for that matter, yours as well Dr. Yinsen."

"My time as a captive I would much rather keep private," Yinsen replied. "It is a painful topic."

"Same here."

"Forgive me for bringing it up."

"What about your story?" Tony asked. "Obadiah hasn't said much about you."

Julia noticed Pepper send him a look, as if telling him to behave.

"Probably because there isn't much to tell," came Dellinger's casual reply. "Mr. Stane hired me about three months ago, but I was introduced to him about four months prior to that. At the time he didn't need an assistant, and we only talked briefly about business-related things."

"But you don't seem like the assistant type – no offence, Pepper."

"When I realized that I had qualities that would make a good executive assistant, I decided to pursue that career. I've got an industrial background, so I understand that side of the process as well as the financial aspect."

Pepper's phone vibrated again and she glanced at the received message. "Marius, we should really get going."

"Yes you're right. Were you able to set up that meeting for this afternoon?"

"I just squeezed it in."

"Good. We'll have to take separate cars to the office, seems a waste."

"I know, but we both drove our own vehicles here, and I'll need mine later."

"So will I. Well, thanks for lunch Mr. Stark, Doctor, Ms. Ramirez."

"No problem," Tony responded with a forced smile.

After both assistants had rushed off, the three of them sat around the table contemplatively, but not for too long – there was lots of work to be done.

* * *

**_A/N: _**Now, I had to learn a fair bit about hand to hand combat and kickboxing just to write the part with the punching bag. If I still didn't get it right, please let me know! Or, if you have any suggestions for fighting styles or combat tips, I'd very much appreciate hearing them (I'll need that knowledge for upcoming things in the story!).


	10. Accountability

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_This chapter feels like the suspense is building into something big; just when things are in a good place… well, you'll soon see. Many apologies for not posting in so long – I have not abandoned this story!

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Accountability**

Once lunch was finished and the table was cleared, Julia was about to return to the workshop when Yinsen stopped her, handed her a phone, and pointed to the living room sofa.

"Call him. Your suit will still be there when you're done."

She didn't have to ask whom he was referring to.

"Trust me, just call him. Take your time."

The doctor led Tony downstairs and she was alone with the view of the Pacific Ocean. Dialing in the number, she waited as the phone rang on the other side of the country. A part of her hoped that he wouldn't pick up, but she knew he would.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Pratt? It's Julia."

"Julia! How are you?"

"I'm doing okay. You?"

"I'm well."

"So, um, Tony called you earlier today."

"Yeah he did. We had a good talk."

"Good…"

"Listen, Julia, I get why you didn't want to mention that you are staying with Tony. I'm not offended or angry or anything. Honestly. I'm just relieved that you're doing okay."

"Even after all this bad press? I don't expect you to be completely fine with it."

"I was a little surprised I guess, but I knew that whatever story the tabloids were featuring wasn't true. I already know how it is between you and Tony."

"Well, thanks for having faith in me."

"Don't mention it. Is there anything you want to get off your chest? So to speak," he joked.

Julia paused; there were things that she couldn't put words to. "I want to see you. I feel like we've got to re-connect or something; it's been so long and a lot of things have changed."

"Same here. Just say when and we'll make it happen. You've probably still got therapy to get through."

"Yeah, I'm not supposed to do much for the next couple months, at least. When I get cleared to travel I'm going to come out east."

"You're in California – that means sunshine! I think I'm coming out there."

She laughed. "Well, I should get going."

"Me too. Talk to you soon?"

"Yes. And Pratt, thanks."

"Take care of yourself Julia, and stay out of the news."

"I'll try to. Bye."

"Bye."

She ended the call feeling considerably better than had when starting it. Maybe things would work out after all.

* * *

After a day of working hard, that evening saw Tony making another flight in the Mark II – he was testing out the anti-icing system he'd installed. Not to mention another crash landing, fortunately not anywhere near the house. The moment he was out of the suit, Yinsen was examining him and calling for ice packs.

"Hey, are you almost finished?" Tony asked, strolling over to where Julia was working. He was sporting an ice pack taped to his shoulder.

"Just about."

"Great. We're doing the final manufacturing in less than an hour."

"No pressure," she quipped. "Are you finished?"

"Pretty much. I'm going to look through the designs once more. Have you picked a colour yet?"

"No. Could I look at some renderings?"

"Of course. I'm going to make a wheatgrass smoothie – want one?"

"Uh, no thanks."

"Hey Yinsen, want a wheatgrass smoothie?" he called across the workshop.

"Yes please; a small glass."

He turned back to Julia. "The doctor's having some and it's got antioxidants…"

"Ok fine – but a really small glass for me."

"It's good for you!" he said enthusiastically as he marched to the kitchen area of the workshop.

A few minutes later he returned with a shot glass for her, and regular glass for Yinsen, and a huge glass for himself. Julia did her best not to grimace at the sight of the green drink. She never would have expected Tony Stark to be a health nut – especially with the way he could down alcohol – but he was really into his detoxifying drinks. Julia knocked backed hers quickly and went back to work, occasionally stealing glances at Tony gulping his smoothie.

He went through the renderings of both her suit and his with Jarvis, checking every little detail. There was no way that something could be less than exceptional for him. Stark was a perfectionist in many ways, and though perfection was the unattainable aspect, he was always working to improve things and push closer to it. Somewhere in the background a reporter a television was droning on about something, but it seemed to catch Tony's attention.

"Jarvis, did we get an invite for that?"

"I have no record of an invitation, sir." After a moment, the A.I. announced, "The render is complete."

Julia jumped up from her seat and ran over to his computer to see what the suits would look like. "Gold? Are you serious?"

"A little ostentatious, don't you think?" Tony mumbled.

"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet," Jarvis deadpanned, forcing Julia to stifle a laugh.

Tony stared at his Ford Flathead Roadster for a moment as he topped up his drink. "Tell you what – throw a little hot-rod red in there."

"Yes, that should help you keep a low profile," Jarvis continued. "The render is complete."

"Yeah, I like it," Tony responded with much approval.

By now Yinsen had also come over, and he also peered at the screen. "My goodness! Well, it's very much you, Tony. What about yours, Julia?"

"I was thinking something dark blue."

"How do you feel about copper accents?" Stark asked.

With a few clicks on the keyboard, Julia's Mark-J stood ready to order.

"That's it," she replied.

Tony grinned. "Fabricate it! Paint it!"

"Commencing automated assembly," Jarvis informed them. "Estimated completion time is five hours."

He swiveled around in his chair to face the other two. "Who wants to crash a party?"

"What?" Julia and Yinsen asked in unison.

"The annual firefighters benefit thing." He gestured toward the television screen.

"And you think Ms. Potts is going to approve of this?" the doctor asked.

"Of course not – especially not after what happened today – but no one is expecting me to make an appearance at this gala. If I show up for a few hours, schmooze with the guests, it'll be fine. It'll probably stop the rumours."

"Since when did you care about rumours?" Julia remarked.

"It's all for you, Ramirez. Actually, if you came…"

"Oh no – there is no way I'm going to that."

"Aw come on! I can get a dress for you on the way."

"And you're definitely not going to get me into a dress either!"

"Tony, you go and have a nice time," Yinsen said. "We'll stay here and monitor the fabrication process."

"Alright. I'll try and bring back some champagne for you." He winked at Julia. "Don't wait up for me, honey!"

* * *

Five hours was a long time to wait, especially when one was waiting for a personal armoured suit to be ready. Julia and Yinsen tidied up the shop a bit and put some tools away with the help of Tony's robots. On one of the workbenches by the door Julia noticed a glass case sitting amongst the clutter. It looked like that was the box Pepper had brought down a couple days ago. She picked it up and smiled at the glowing arc reactor mounted inside; _Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart_. Julia had to admit that Pepper's creating this for Tony was incredibly sweet. This deserved to be put somewhere special. A glance around the shop told her that finding that place might have to wait a while.

"Hey, why don't we take a break?" Yinsen suggested.

"Good idea. Are you hungry?"

"Yes a little. Where is that backgammon board?"

"If you look for it, I'll see what there is in the fridge to snack on."

"Okay."

After a little bit of searching on both their parts, Julia and Yinsen settled into the seating area for some quiet relaxation. Even though they had played backgammon frequently while they had been captives, they hadn't tired of the game and still enjoyed playing it.

"You know, I must confess that I am a bit worried about you flying around in that suit," Yinsen admitted.

"I'll take it slowly, don't worry. I won't be racing Tony anytime soon."

"At least he'll be able to give you some instruction after all of his experience; and I use that term with some discretion."

Julia laughed. "Who better to learn from?"

"Ah! The thought of you two in the skies…"

"Would you like a suit?"

"Me? No, no. My place is on the earth, with solid ground beneath my feet. Tony asked me the same question."

"We must feel the same way; we want you with us."

"I will be with you. All of these visuals and real-time status indicators can keep me linked in like I'm in a suit. Believe me, I would rather be the one monitoring all of this. Besides, I've gotten quite used to working with Jarvis."

"He certainly is amazing."

"Well Julia, I think I will go to bed. If you're going to do any test flights, tell me about it in the morning."

"Certainly. I won't be surprised if Tony wants to take the suit for a spin when he gets back."

"Remember: No crashing!"

"Yes sir," she replied with a smile.

Yinsen stood and walked to the elevator, then paused and looked back at her. "Are you going to wait for him?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Don't take offense if he brings someone back with him."

"I won't." Her eyes gave away a slightly contrary feeling.

The doctor nodded with understanding. "Good night."

"Night."

As she watched Yinsen step into the elevator and the doors close after him, Julia wondered about the chances of something like that happening. It would be more than a little awkward running into a 'one-night stand' of his. And what if said woman leaked more information about her? She almost shuddered at the thought. If Tony brought anyone home, Julia decided to avoid her at all costs.

* * *

The sound of a car driving into the workshop awakened Julia. She glanced around from where she lay on the sofa; evidently she had fallen asleep watching television. A nearby clock read eleven-thirty. Tony had only been gone about three hours – that was unusual. Julia pulled herself into a sitting position and spotted Tony getting out of his Audi. She was about to call out to him but noticed a grim expression on his face, despite the distance. He was beating a path toward the shop kitchen and tugging his bowtie apart, when he noticed her and stopped. Their eyes locked and for a moment they just stared at each other.

"What happened?" Julia asked; her voice was soft but her tone indicated that an answer was required.

He looked away and continued to the cabinet where the liquor was kept, hastily pouring himself a glass of something strong.

She could've moved into interrogation mode, but chose not to; instead she got herself a glass and let Tony fill it. When their eyes met again he was ready to talk.

"In Afghanistan, the Ten Rings' weapons cache?" he spoke haltingly. "Stark Industries supplied it."

She gaped. "Illegal arms trade? Black market acquisition? Military shipment raid?"

"No. Stark Industries is dealing under the table."

"Are you sure about this? How did you find out? Is the information reliable?"

"Obadiah… he all but said it outright." Tony stalked over to his desk and threw the bowtie down before pulling off his suit jacket.

Julia took a moment to let it sink in. "How did this come up?"

"Christine-"

"Christine who?"

"A writer for Vanity Fair. She showed me photos from an assault the Ten Rings are making in regions of Afghanistan. In Gulmira."

As if she weren't already reeling. "Gulmira, as in Yinsen's…"

"Hometown! Yes! I saw the photos; they're using Stark Industries weaponry to do it!" Tony shouted.

"What is Obadiah's part in all of this?"

"He's the one who filed the injunction against me! He locked me out of the company's board of directors. And he said it was to protect me!" Tony yanked the cufflinks out of his shirt and let them fall to the table with a clang, then started fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. After a moment he tore off the entire shirt with a growl, sending buttons flying all over the shop, and paced around in his undershirt.

Julia stayed calm and tried to analyze the situation. "We need more information on this." Grabbing the remote she flipped to a news channel that had coverage on Afghanistan. She wasn't ready for the images of refugees, explosions, and machine gun-toting men; the ordeal she went through in that land was still too fresh in her mind. A momentary look back at Tony told her that he was feeling the same way. "We need to tell Yinsen."

"No – he won't be able to handle this."

"He'd want to know."

"I don't even know how to fix this."

"Maybe he can help."

Tony sighed. "Should I tell him?"

"I'll do it."

"Okay. Just…"

There was no easy way to break news like that. "I know."

Julia ran up the stairs and down the hallway to Yinsen's bedroom. Silently opening the door she looked in at the doctor sleeping peacefully; in a few moments he would be trying to cope with the knowledge that the place where he had grown up was being destroyed, bullet by bullet.

"Yinsen," she whispered, sitting next to the bed. "Yinsen, wake up."

Groggily he turned over and squinted at her. "What? Is everyone alright?"

"There's something that you have to know."

"Is Tony okay?"

She smiled and blinked back the moisture in her eyes. "He's fine."

The doctor turned a light onto a low setting and reached for his glasses. "What's going on?"

"Tony has just learned that Obadiah has been selling to terrorist groups."

"No!"

"The Ten Rings are one of those groups. They're using the weapons to raid towns and increase the territory under their control. We've just gotten news that Gulmira is under attack."

"No! There must be a mistake!"

"I'm sorry."

He covered his face with his trembling hands and didn't speak.

"Please come down to the shop. We're going to make a plan of action right now."

Yinsen removed his hands and gazed at her with haunted eyes. "What can we do?"

She sighed. "I haven't had a chance to think of anything yet, but Tony's determined."

Without a word he got out of bed, put on a housecoat, and numbly followed her back down the hallway. It was when they had reached the living room that the sound of glass smashing rang in their ears. That had definitely come from the workshop.

"Come down in the elevator," she instructed Yinsen, and ran down the curved staircase. All of the glass panes that sealed off the shop lay in sparkling, little shards on the floor. "Tony!" she yelled.

He stood there, staring back at her. "I know what to do."

* * *

An hour later the suits were ready. In approximately fifteen minutes Stark and Ramirez would take them on the ultimate field test. The plan that they had come up with was simple in theory, filled with unknown variables, and verging on suicidal – something that would be characteristic of most of Tony Stark's plans. The two of them would fly directly to Gulmira, Afghanistan and destroy all of the Stark Industries weapons in the possession of the Ten Rings, along with any terrorists who got in the way. At first Yinsen had implored them not to go, but acceded in the end. This had to be done, and there was no one else who could do it.

Donning black, skin-tight bodysuits to wear under the armour, Tony and Julia were ready to be bolted in. Tony had his suit put on first. Mechanical arms moved all around him, locking everything in place; within minutes he stood in gleaming red and gold. Now it was Julia's turn, and she stood still as the suit covered her body. She recalled the measuring that Tony and Yinsen had done before the exterior was rendered; being a woman, the form of the suit would differ slightly to Tony's. He had been just a little too eager to wrap some measuring tape around her hips and had lost out on the task to the professional doctor.

"How does it look?"

Tony and Yinsen stared at Julia standing before them in her shiny navy blue and copper suit. "Impressive," they affirmed in unison.

Suddenly there was nothing to say, they all just looked at each other. They were all thinking the same thoughts – their experiences, the images of screaming children, the need for justice.

"Let's do this," Stark murmured tersely.

The helmet closed over his face and he turned to where his Shelby Cobra still sat in a terribly crumpled state. With a blast from the repulsor in the palm of his suit he cleared a path and rocketed straight up through the hole in the ceiling. Julia stepped directly under the makeshift launch tube and looked up at the night sky above. With the helmet closed, her heads-up display was giving her all sorts of information on distance and width and angle.

Julia let out a deep breath. "Fire up the rockets." She could feel her whole body gently lift from the ground and she hovered in the air. "On three – one, two, three!"

The jets roared to life and she shot straight out into the darkness. It wasn't until she was able to slow her speed and hover tentatively in the air, that she noticed Tony come up beside her.

"Hey, look at you – a natural!"

"I've got you to learn from. This feels so weird, like I'm floating."

"You'll get used to it in no time. Just move about like you would normally, and the suit will do the rest. Remember, Jarvis is right with you. Speaking of whom… Hey Jarvis, we need a route to Gulmira, a direct one."

"Plotting a course…" A map appeared simultaneously on their holographic viewscreens. "An eastward direction would allow you to make use of the global jetstream, making the flight more efficient and expedient."

"Alright then, let's gain some altitude."

The suit immediately responded to her body as she flew higher. It wasn't shuddering or making any disconcerting noises; the machine was like a second skin. In no time they were as high as jet aircrafts and going ridiculously fast. They couldn't fly too close together, as a precaution, but when they spoke it was like they were beside each other.

"Okay, according to my math, we should be able to reach Mach 1.2 in these suits. We'll need to get up to speeds like that if we're going to make it to Gulmira while there is still some of it left."

"Sir," Jarvis interjected, "prolonged flight at high speeds is inadvisable without the proper testing."

"We'll take a coffee break," he replied dismissively. "Are you ready for this Julia?"

"Yes," she replied, confidence evident in her voice.

"Good. This is going to be a long haul."

* * *

**_A/N: _**Ok, if you're like me and had some difficultly visualizing Julia's Mark-J suit, I found a picture from some comic (no idea which one) with a certain woman sporting an Iron Man suit. It's on my profile page under the section about this story. Just think navy blue and copper accents for Ramirez. Hope it helps!


	11. Where It All Began

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_This chapter is pretty much straight action – YES! Haven't had one of those in a while. My dear readers, I'm sorry I took so long in posting; this month has been crazy. I hope you enjoy this very long chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Where It All Began **

Hours and countries passed by faster than Julia expected. It was all so surreal, like the best flying dream ever; except she had to keep reminding herself that it was real. The earth was so beautiful at thirty-eight thousand feet – the greens and browns of the land and the striking contrast of the dark blue water. She and Tony soared through the clouds above it all, free from everything. The sunrise never looked as pure as it did now.

"Approaching Afghanistan," the accented voice of Jarvis informed them.

Tony spoke for the first time in a while. "We'll begin descending now."

They slowed their speed a bit and started dropping in altitude. Coming in undetected was important; so far they had been able to avoid detection by other military scanners along the route, but this was an active area.

"Hey Yinsen, are you there?" Tony spoke to the man still sitting in his Malibu workshop.

There was a pause, then he appeared on the screen in both of their helmet displays. "I'm here." The doctor looked groggy, he'd probably been sleeping. "Are you in Afghanistan yet?"

"Just arrived. Listen, I don't want you to see or hear any of this, so I'm going to-"

He interrupted, something he rarely did. "Tony I need to see Gulmira, it's my home."

"And I don't want you to see it like this. You've got to trust us."

Yinsen gazed at Julia's image, silently asking her if she agreed.

"We'll contact you when we're done here, then you can see it."

His face was grief-stricken, but he was showing signs of relenting. "Alright. Just, be careful."

"Get some rest, Yinsen. We've got to get started," Tony said, and ended the call.

"What's the plan?" she asked him.

"Save the civilians, destroy all the weaponry the Ten Rings have."

It was straightforward, but there was no telling what things would be like on the ground. "This is a hotspot for the air force – our base was always trying to get intel on this area – we'll have to get in and out before they detect us. And Tony, you haven't been in combat like this, so it's going to be a shock."

"I can handle it."

"I know what I'm talking about. Don't let your anger control you or you won't be able to think clearly. Remember: take deep breaths. If you feel like you're going to start panicking-"

"I'm not going to panic," he cut in.

"Everybody does, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I have many times." Julia's mind did a quick flashback to all of the missions she'd done when she was last in the country; fear was not a stranger to her. "Panic can feel like a cold hand wrapping around your chest, suffocating you, causing you to lose focus. Don't give into that impulse. Suppress that feeling. We want to get out of this alive."

Maybe she was saying this more for herself than for him. When they had fought out of the cave, Tony was able to charge into the fray. He'd killed people. Julia had never talked with him about that. Maybe he was more ready for what they were about to do than she realized.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"I don't know… but when the shooting starts it'll all come back."

"I guess you don't ever forget."

"No, not really."

They were nearly in sight of the village. Smoke rose from Gulmira, staining the sky a dirty grey. Julia could feel her heart hammering inside the metal suit.

"Pick your targets," Tony told her.

She was able to zoom in the visuals and identify the people below as either aggressors or villagers. Yinsen's hometown looked like a war zone in every sense of the term; crumbling buildings were riddled with bullet holes, people desperately trying to flee the merciless terrorists, fires burning out of control. Outside of one building it looked as though an execution was about to take place, right in front of screaming women and children.

"There," she said, praying that they would make it in time.

"Here we go."

It was like something clicked inside of her; suddenly all other thoughts and emotions were pushed into the background, her mind focused sharply on what had to be done, the adrenaline of combat pulsed through her. Stark and Ramirez landed in tandem in the middle of the killing ground and they rapidly dispatched the terrorists around them, sending men flying into surrounding buildings. In front of a couple trucks, the remaining terrorists held guns to the heads of the women and children.

Tony lowered his hands. "I'm selecting targets individually."

Within the blink of an eye, precision shots launched from anti-personnel guns on his shoulders – the terrorists dropped harmlessly. A little boy ran over and embraced his father, who had nearly been to put to death, but Stark and Ramirez couldn't dwell on the touching moment.

"I saw Bakaar here," Julia said, referring to one of their former captors.

"I've got him." Tony thrust his hand into a nearby wall and yanked Bakaar through it, tossing him in front of the crowd of villagers. "He's all yours," he told them as he and Julia rose into the air.

The first task was to clear the area they were currently in. Starting with a couple trucks carrying ammunition, Julia was able to learn how to control the blasts from the repulsors in the palms of her suit. Initially flinching from the searing heat of the resulting explosion, she realized that she hadn't felt a thing. Even when more of the armed terrorists opened fire on the two of them, the bullets from the automatic rifles virtually bounced off. The men had taken cover behind a building, but they might as well have been standing out in the open. The suit's scanners illuminated the targets on the screen and Julia got a chance to test out her own anti-personnel guns. When she came across a truck with a fifty-cal machine gun on it, she tried the wrist-launched missile on her left arm. She hadn't realized it was an anti-tank missile. The blast could have cleared a street.

"Overkill, don't you think?" Tony remarked with some dark humour.

"I keep forgetting that this is your weapons tech – all your stuff is overkill."

"I'm not picking up much else; all the vehicles are disabled and the villagers will be able to handle any of the Ten Rings men who are left."

"On to the weapons depot then. Lead the way."

Tony soared high and fast over the ridge that offered protection for the encampment the Ten Rings had established. It was bigger than she'd anticipated. Her scanners suddenly flashed red.

"Incoming..." was all she was able to say before a tank shot took Stark clear out of the sky. Julia swerved in a downward turn, and narrowly avoided getting hit by him or the following two rounds. "Tony!" she yelled, watching him make a devastating landing.

Before she could get down there, the Mark-J got pelted with a volley from a high caliber machine gun. Even her nearly impenetrable suit had a breaking point, and she wasn't about to find out what that was today. Julia dove and tried to get out of the sights of the gun barrel before launching a counter-attack. She paused behind a building; a step to the right would put her into the line of fire. In a matter of moments, there could be numerous opponents coming around both sides to flush her out. Julia leaned her head against the wall behind her, then turned stared at it – with ease Tony had been able to put a fist through one like it. What was stopping her? With a kick that she would normally use to breach doors Julia smashed through the wall and charged through the deserted building. Her outstretched palm blasted away the next wall before she could reach it, and she rocketed through the hole. The gunners weren't expecting that maneuver. She grabbed the gun barrel and pulled it back till it bent, then fiercely took down the fleeing terrorists.

Picking up Tony's signal, Ramirez located him marching down a street. Behind him a tank stood at the other end, about to scorch the earth he walked on. What was he doing out in the open? As if in response, the tank exploded a second later. He nodded when he saw her, and she didn't know which was more frightening – the suit's glowing eyes or the menacing glare on his face inside the helmet.

"Julia, they've got Jericho missiles. We need to destroy those and that will take out everything else."

"Got it."

The weapons cache was full of them; it wouldn't take much to decimate this place. She followed Tony's lead in ignoring to smaller arms shots and concentrating fire on the larger weaponry. A strong repulsor blast seemed to be all that was needed. Most of the depot was smoking or on fire in a matter of minutes, something that might have taken a ground team of soldiers an hour to do.

"They're moving in on both sides."

"You got my back, Ramirez?"

"Right behind you."

"Let's clear a path out of here."

They stretched out both of their hands and cut down the advancing terrorists.

"Two vehicle-mounted fifty-cals on my one o'clock."

"Time to get out of here. I'm going to hit these missiles."

"I've got you covered."

Rockets taking them vertical, Julia had her back to him as he powered up one final shot. The launcher that held merely three Jericho missiles had the most powerful explosion yet. Stark and Ramirez raced out ahead of the fireball and up into the open skies.

"We're done here," Tony announced. "Jarvis, plot us a course home."

"Right away, sir."

"I really wanted to find Raza," Julia spoke the name of the Ten Rings leader through a tight jaw.

"So did I, but the military is going to pick this up soon."

"I know…"

They looked at each other in the internal display.

"How was it?" she asked. It was a vague question, but it was the best she could come up with for what they had done.

Tony gave her a tired half-smile. "Just like you imagined."

They both boosted the rockets, suddenly eager to get home. Julia was determined not to let herself think about the events in Gulmira until then; she had to concentrate on flying.

"Hey, my phone's ringing," Tony said.

"What? You've got your cell phone hooked up to the suit?"

"Well, of course. I need to be able to take calls when I'm out."

"Who is it?"

"Rhodes… uh oh. I have to take this."

"Patch me in, but no audio from me."

Tony answered the call. "Hello?"

The voice of Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes filled Julia's helmet. "Tony?" The ambient sound of speeding through the air was making lots of distortion.

"Who's this?"

"It's Rhodes."

"Sorry, hello?"

"I said, it's Rhodes."

"Speak up please."

Rhodes was sounding a little annoyed by this point. "What in the heck is that noise?"

"I'm just driving with the top down."

"Well I need your help right now."

There was sarcasm in Stark's voice. "It's funny how that works, huh?"

"Yeah, speaking of funny we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive."

"Well, uh, that's a hotspot," Tony replied between breaths, the stain of flight making regular conversation a little difficult. "Sounds like someone stepped in and did your job for you."

"Why are you sounding out of breath, Tony?"

"I'm not; I was just jogging in the canyon."

"I thought you were driving…" Rhodes was getting suspicious.

"Right, I was driving… to the canyon… where I'm going to jog."

Julia would have smacked her palm to her forehead had she not been rocketing through the atmosphere. Could he be telling a more obvious lie? Something far more pressing came up on her display – incoming fighter jets. "Jarvis, alert Tony."

"Mr. Stark has been notified," the A.I. informed her.

"You sure you don't have any tech in that area I should know about?" the lieutenant colonel asked.

"Nope!"

"Ok good, 'cause I'm staring at one right now and it's about to be blown to kingdom come."

"That's my exit!" Tony ended the call abruptly. "Julia, right!"

They barrel rolled to the right as the fighter jets closed in on them.

"We need to get some space between us so that we've got room to maneuver," she told him.

"Incoming transmission from F-22 fighter jet," Jarvis announced.

"Ignore it," Stark replied.

"They're going to engage us," Julia warned.

"We can't start talking to them."

An alert about the F-22s about to reach supersonic flight appeared on their viewscreens.

"You're kidding!" he exclaimed.

"What did I say?"

"Alright then, let's do this!"

The Mark III and Mark-J broke the sound barrier, but two missiles came right after them.

"Flares!" Tony yelled.

Julia did the same; she didn't even know he'd installed that function. A sharp turn up allowed her to gain the altitude needed to avoid the imminent explosion, but Stark stayed on his horizontal course. The shock wave thrust him forward and then he started to freefall.

"Tony, you okay?"

"Fine. The suit kinda cut out but I'm still online."

"The jets broke formation. We've each got one on our tail, so look alive."

Even with some fancy flying, neither of them could shake the fighters. That was the bad thing about being up in the air like this – there was no where to hide. The one on Tony opened fire, pelting him with several rounds.

"Deploy flaps," he yelled.

The sudden drag brought him to near standstill and the jets raced past. The red and gold suit was no where in sight; Julia couldn't even detect him on radar. That wasn't stopping the F-22s from continuing their pursuit on her. She was barely able to stay out of their target zone.

"Julia, you're doing good. I'm calling Rhodey back."

"Where the heck are you? I'm this close to getting pummeled here!"

"I'm holding onto the belly of a jet."

"What? Okay, I can't talk now – I've got to shake these guys."

A moment later she could hear Rhodes' voice again. "Hello?"

"Hi Rhodey, it's me," Tony replied.

"It's who?"

"I'm sorry; it is me. You asked… what you were asking… is me."

Anger flared up in the lieutenant colonel's response. "No, see this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone! You understand that?"

"It's not a piece of equipment – I'm in it! It's a suit! It's me!"

The silence on the other end indicated how stunned the other man was.

Meanwhile, Julia opted for a displacement roll – it would move her from the current flight path to a new one where she wasn't in the line of fire. Of course, she wasn't a pilot, so she had only a relative idea of how this was going to work. All it took was for her it arch her body back and let the momentum rocket her through the turn. A glance into her display showed that the F-22s were still on her tail, and a firing solution was imminent.

"Jarvis, I need some defensive maneuvers," she spoke urgently to the A.I. "Did Tony include tactical information in the databanks?"

"Yes, I have strategic aerial combat information at the ready."

Diagrams flashed past on the screen. "What about that one?"

"Rolling scissors. It is risky…" His tone suddenly changed. "Firing solution achieved."

"Crap." Julia's suit was bombarded with gunfire and all kind of warnings started going off. "Okay Jarvis, rollers it is. Walk me through this one." She had no idea what she was doing, but if the instructional imagery on her screen meant anything, at least she wouldn't get shot down. Pulling up into the revolving motion, the jets arched around the other way, this time both of them nearly achieving a clear shot at her.

However, as the pilots shifted the angle of their aircrafts, Stark's hiding spot was revealed. Not being able to see him, the one pilot sent his jet into a gut-wrenching roll to shake him off. Tony lost his grip on the fighter jet and went reeling into the air, hitting the following aircraft and shearing through a wing.

Coming out of the bottom of a turn, Julia realized that the air force no longer in pursuit.

"Incoming debris," Jarvis warned.

"From what?" She had to swerve sharply to avoid the plummeting wreckage of an F-22. "Tony! You're back on radar but I'm seeing a collision course. What's going on up there?"

"Uh, we've just had a bit of an accident."

"I just saw an entire jet going down in flames! That's more than 'a bit'. Did the pilot eject? Wait, I've got him on my radar."

"His chute's not deploying – I'm going after him."

"That other jet's coming in for us."

"Keep him busy!" he ordered, and shot down after the free-falling pilot who was still strapped into his seat.

Jarvis simultaneously alerted Stark and Ramirez; "You've been re-engaged. Execute evasive maneuvers."

"Keep going!" Tony yelled to himself.

Julia decreased her speed and went in a course leading away from the red and gold suit, hoping that the pilot would choose to go after her instead. He took the bait and turned to pursue her. Steadily descending, she aimed to put herself as close to the geography as possible to force the F-22 to abandon the chase.

This distraction allowed Tony to catch up with the pilot and pull the chute. With the man saved, he pulled up in time to avoid crashing into the mountainous terrain himself. With that, the other fighter jet halted its pursuit and turned back towards the air force base.

Pausing in mid-air, Julia let the suit scan for threats. "Is that it? Are we okay?" she asked Stark.

He hadn't actually ended the call with Rhodey, and once more his voice could be heard. "Tony, you still there?"

"Hey! Thanks."

"Oh my gosh, you crazy son of a gun! You owe me a plane, you know that right?"

He chuckled. "Well, technically he hit me. So now are you going to come by and see what I'm working on?"

Rhodes protested strongly; "No, no, no, no – the less I know the better. And what am I supposed to tell the press?"

"Uh, training exercise. Isn't that the usual story?"

"It's not that simple… I'll see what I can do. I've got to go."

"Stay cool Rhodes." There was a pause as he ended the call and activated audio from Julia's suit. "Hey, Ramirez."

"Hello Stark."

"You were brilliant, I love you," he said playfully.

"That was the craziest thing I've ever done – but I'm glad I came along."

"Maybe don't tell Yinsen about the F-22 thing though."

"He'll find out anyways; I don't think we could keep anything from him."

"C'mon, how would he find out?"

"It's uncanny, but he will."

"Let's get home; suddenly I'm starving."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when Ramirez and Stark returned to Malibu; they had been gone for over twelve hours. Only Yinsen had been in the house all of that time, so no explanation as to Tony's whereabouts had been necessary. They decided to continue using the hole in the roof as the point of entry, and with great care Tony and Julia dropped into in workshop. Their suits were dirty and battle-scarred from their mission in Gulmira, giving them a terrifying appearance until they removed their helmets. Yinsen was there to greet them, and gave them a rare, beaming smile.

"I have always thought of myself as a patient person, yet I have been nothing but agitated since you both left," the doctor said. "How did it go?"

"The Ten Rings had turned Gulmira into a weapons depot," Julia explained. "We were successful in freeing the village…"

"And the depot is no more than a crater in the ground," Tony finished her sentence.

"Unbelievable! I'm just happy that you're both alright. Thank you for doing this."

"We only did what had to be done," Julia replied.

"Tony, I saw your friend on the news – the lieutenant colonel in the air force – and he was giving a report on the situation. I can't believe you two destroyed a fighter jet; you're on the same side, you know."

Tony glared at Julia as he spoke. "That was just a misunderstanding."

"It wasn't legal to go there, so we had a bit of an altercation," Julia explained, and smirked back at Tony.

"Ah, I see. Well, let's get you out of those suits. I'm sure you're very tired."

Tony stepped out onto the assembly area. "Ramirez, if you don't mind I'll go first. I need to make sure this works."

"Go for it." She carefully sat on a car jack because the weight of the suit could crush anything lighter.

The mechanical arms extended and started to pull at all the parts of Stark's suit. Getting it on had been much faster and easier; taking it off was proving to be quite difficult.

Yinsen pulled up a chair and sat beside Julia, away from the action. "I don't think there's much I can do. Tony, did you work out a system for removing the suit?"

"To be honest, I didn't really spend much time on that aspect," he muttered. "Hey! Ow! Ah, ah, ah! Julia, stop laughing – you'll be doing the same thing in a moment."

Jarvis' calm British voice tried to reason with him. "Well, it is a tight fit, sir. The more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."

"Be gentle, it's my first time. I designed this to come off so – OW! Hey!"

"Please try not to move," Jarvis urged him.

In the background, Virginia Potts had come downstairs and walked through the shattered glass that once sealed off the workshop from the rest of the house. Now she wore a look of disbelief on her face as she stared at the scene in front of her. "What's going on here?"

Everyone froze; even the robots ceased in their efforts to remove the suit.

Tony slowly looked over at her. "Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

Julia wasn't sure how to react to that quip, but Pepper just ignored it. "Are those bullet holes?" she gasped in horror.

"Ah… yes, that would be correct."

"Tony, what were you doing that you were getting shot at?" she demanded.

"That's a little more difficult to explain…"

For the first time Pepper noticed Julia attired in similar armour. "You too? Somebody tell me what's going on – right now!"

"Pepper, I'd really like to get out of this thing. Keep working, Jarvis. Could you come back in like twenty minutes, or maybe an hour or two?"

She glared furiously at Julia. "Did you put him up to this?"

"Hey, this was my idea!" Tony interjected.

"Then where were you?"

"Afghanistan."

"What? Why would you go _back_ there?

"There was something we had to resolve, and now it's resolved, and everyone's fine."

"No! Everyone is not fine! You've been on the other side of the planet in the middle of a war zone." Suddenly she gasped. "This has something to do with that statement the air force made this morning! Now it all makes sense…"

"That's their side of the story…"

"But it's true, isn't it? This is some vendetta, some vengeance thing. All this time you three have been down here, you've been working on this to obliterate those terrorists who were holding you captive."

"It's not like that!" Tony protested. "They had my weapons! They were using them on innocent civilians. The military wasn't going in there and we could."

"You nearly got killed, you nearly got Julia killed!"

"No one nearly got killed; we knew what we were doing."

That statement wasn't entirely accurate but Julia wasn't about to dispute that now.

"Tony you are not the air force, just let them do their job!"

"This isn't about military jurisdiction. This is about Stark Industries and Obadiah and the deals they've been doing with terrorists."

"What does Obadiah have to do with any of this? Does he know what you've been up to?"

"He's the one who's been conducting these sales."

"What? No, that's impossible."

"It's the truth, Pepper. And these suits are something he can never know about. It's my responsibility to bring him to justice."

"That's what court is for, Tony. Leave this to the proper authorities…"

"And all the weapons that are still out there, what about those?"

"They aren't worth your life."

"Do you know how many dead people we saw today? What about their lives? Women and children…"

"I can't talk about this anymore, okay?" Pepper held up her hands in resigned manner and started walking away. "This is just too much all at once."

Tony sighed heavily once she left. "Well, let's get out of these suits."

"Maybe I should see how she is," Yinsen suggested. "I can't help with this anyways."

"That's not a bad idea," Julia agreed. "You're kind of the neutral party."

By the time Tony and Julia did manage to get the armour off, the hours of traveling and action hit them like a ton of bricks. Even Tony couldn't bear the thought immediately setting to work fixing and making more upgrades to the suits. They rode the elevator up to the main floor and found Yinsen in the kitchen busily cooking.

"You didn't have to make dinner," Julia protested.

"Nonsense. It's the least I can do. By the way, Ms. Potts has left for the day."

Tony made a grunt to acknowledge the information and hauled himself onto a bar stool alongside the counter.

Yinsen went into doctor mode. "I want both of you to go to bed early tonight, okay? No more long hours in the workshop, just take the night off and rest."

"I think I'll have to crawl to my room," Julia replied.

"And I'll have to crawl upstairs to mine," Tony added.

After dinner, somehow they both managed to reach their respective rooms. Julia had showered and changed in the shop's bathroom and didn't feel like putting on sleepwear. She climbed straight into bed and lay there wrapped in silky sheets. Despite being physically exhausted, she just couldn't fall asleep. Julia eventually got frustrated and tore back the blankets, then paced around the room. She was restless, agitated. Going into the bathroom, she poured herself a glass of water straight from the tap – the carafe beside her bed was empty – and was alarmed to notice her hand trembling quite a bit. The glass slipped from her grasp and she instantly moved to seize it, but it smashed on the counter and her hand closed around shards. Julia dropped them when she felt the glass slice into her skin; as she watched, blood came forth and began to trickle across her palm. That red, life-sustaining liquid she had seen staining the sand and splattered on the walls of buildings. She had seen too much of that in Afghanistan. The combat scenario of the past twenty-four hours went against all the therapy she'd been receiving to help her cope with the lingering post-traumatic stress she was dealing with. In reality, Julia was not ready to go back into any battle. She felt nauseous and weak. Clutching her bleeding hand, she slumped onto the floor in a corner and started sobbing. The suit made her invincible – but she was still just flesh and blood.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Ramirez and Stark make a pretty slick team, don't you think? That's something you're going to see more of quite soon. Questions & comments can all be directed to the button below.


	12. View From the Floor

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_Ok, so I've been on hiatus for ages. Real-life drama is so not fun… Anyhow, in my absence from story-writing I've discovered the fighting system known as Krav Maga, which helped a lot in writing this chapter (as you'll soon see). You'll most likely want to scan the previous chapter (or the whole story) but I'll give you an intro: Stark and Ramirez have just returned from fighting the Ten Rings in Gulmira. Tony has an argument with Pepper. Julia has a bit of a breakdown due to her post-traumatic stress disorder…

* * *

**Chapter 12 – View From the Floor**

Julia had no idea where she was when she woke up the next morning. Her head was on a pillow and a blanket covered her, but she most definitely was not in a bed. A horizontal viewpoint showed a white floor and rich, wood cabinetry. Julia struggled to sit up, feeling incredibly sore, and noticed that her hand was bandaged. Now the surroundings were looking familiar – the bathroom.

"Ah, you're awake. You're no doubt aching, but sleeping on a hard floor will do that to your body." Yinsen stood in the doorway, smiling slightly.

"Good morning. W-what happened?"

"Good afternoon; it's twelve-thirty. Last night I came by your room to check on you – I was concerned how you would be after yesterday – and I found you half-asleep on the floor, bleeding, and surrounded by glass. So, I cleaned up, treated your hand, and made you as comfortable as possible since I couldn't move you. Perhaps you're the one who should be telling me what happened."

Julia got to her feet with a loud groan. "I'll be fine; I was just a little shaken up I guess."

"Hmm…" the doctor mumbled. "Well, I should go see if Tony's awake yet; he didn't have the best sleep either."

She glanced over, alarmed. "Is he alright?"

"No worse than you are." Yinsen gave her a pointed look, then left.

Julia turned on the tap to draw a bath; there was no way she was setting foot outside that room without doing something about her tight muscles.

* * *

Tony was unusually somber and particularly focused on their work later that afternoon. He was wasting no time in making modifications and necessary repairs to the suits. They didn't talk much, neither was the workshop filled with the pounding bass of rock music. Finally, Tony broke the silence.

"This is the only way to change things."

She wasn't sure where he was going with this line of thought.

"I can't go after Obadiah with lawyers and legalities – it would take forever in court and it wouldn't stop the fact that the weapons are already out there."

"What do you plan to do about it then?" Yinsen asked.

"The suits – use them to destroy all those armaments. They're powerful, and we can go anywhere with them."

"Stane will find out eventually."

"But by then there won't be anything he can do. I have to do this, there's no one else who can."

That evening a distraction came in the form of Virginia Potts, tip-toeing into the darkened workshop towards Tony's desk. She eyed the Mark III like it was an armed warhead he was working on.

"Hey, you busy?" he asked. "You mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office and hack into the mainframe; you're going to retrieve all recent shipping manifests." He handed her a secure USB drive. "This will get you in. It's probably under executive files. If not, they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you'd need to look for the lowest numeric heading."

Pepper's tone was low when she finally responded. "And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?"

"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table; I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."

"Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."

"There is nothing except this," his voice became loud and hard, "there is no art opening, there is no benefit, there is nothing to sign – there is the next mission and nothing else."

"Is that so? Well then I quit!" She tossed the flash drive back onto his desk and started to walk away.

"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction, and now that I'm trying to protect the people I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"

Julia and Yinsen watched the exchange with bated breath. In that moment Tony Stark was facing the man he really was, even though it wasn't a pretty picture.

"You're going to _kill_ yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it," Pepper told him.

Tony slumped into a chair, suddenly sounding tired. "I shouldn't be alive… unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper, I just finally know what I have to do, and I know in my heart… that it's right."

Pepper sighed heavily and picked up the flash drive. "You're all I have too, you know," she said softly.

She left the shop and Tony swiveled in his chair to face Julia and Yinsen. "Well, I guess we should get finished. We'll probably have to leave when she gets back."

Just when Julia thought she couldn't possibly feel more pride in Stark, he would go and do something amazing that made her respect him all the more.

* * *

"I'm hungry. Maybe we should eat something."

"If you have to go halfway around the world again, then you should definitely eat."

It had been an hour and a half since Pepper left for the Stark Industries offices, and they had finished with the suit modifications.

"Let's eat something then," Tony insisted.

"I really should give my family a fast call; I said I'd phone tonight."

"I can get started in the kitchen," Yinsen offered.

"Okay, I'll be up in a minute," Tony replied.

Julia and Yinsen took the elevator upstairs, giving him a chance to say something.

"Are you sure that you're up to going off on another mission so soon?"

She shrugged. "Probably not, but if he's going then I'm going."

"I can empathize with Ms. Potts – I don't want him doing this either."

"If we go as a team, we can handle just about anything. Heck, Tony could do it all on his own."

"He probably could… Just be careful, alright?"

There was concern etched on his face, fear deep in his eyes. He suddenly reminded Julia of when she parted from her parents when she left for Afghanistan. It struck her that Yinsen had very few people dear to him left in the world; she and Tony were basically all he had.

Julia went to her room and was about to dial the number to her family's home when she glimpsed a figure at her doorway. "Yinsen? Are you alright?"

The doctor walked in quickly, face ashen. "Obadiah Stane is here."

"What? Are you sure?"

"While I was in the kitchen I saw a car drive up to the house."

"Did he see you?"

"No, I don't think so. I hadn't turned on the lights; just the low lights are on."

"Okay, okay…" Her mind raced, trying to process the information and come up with a logical plan of action. "He's got to know that something's up – maybe he ran into Pepper when she was at the offices. Jarvis, display the cameras around the entryway."

One of the large windowpanes tinted and a screen appeared showing the security camera footage. A black Bentley Continental GT V8 sat quietly before the house, and Stane had just opened the door to Stark's mansion. As they watched, he paused and looked back outside, and a man jogged up to meet him.

"Is that…?" Yinsen started.

"Marius Dellinger," Julia confirmed. "This is bad." She touched the interface and found a shot of the driveway – Dellinger's grey BMW X6 was parked away from the house and off the pavement.

"What do we do?"

"Warn Tony, activate security procedures, then disarm Stane and Dellinger." She paged the workshop, but there was no immediate answer. "Come on, Tony!" she muttered.

The interface abruptly froze mid-call. Julia tapped the glass several times but nothing happened. "Jarvis? Jarvis?"

There was no response. She and Yinsen stared at each other.

"They've disabled the security – we won't be able to lock down the house."

Julia's voice hardened into a commanding tone. "I'm going to need a gun. Do you know where Tony would keep one?"

"A gun… maybe… wait, he has a couple on display in his office. I seem to recall him mentioning once that he also kept one in a drawer."

"Okay. Yinsen, find somewhere to hide."

"You must contact Tony; don't confront them alone."

"Right now I don't have a choice. That's why I need you to be safe, someplace they won't find you. And don't come out until I come for you."

The doctor rubbed his fingertips across his forehead. "Alright. But please, be careful! I cannot stress this enough."

Yinsen left her room and went to find a secure spot to conceal himself, while Julia went out in the opposite direction, padding down the hallway to Stark's office. In the desk drawers the organizational hand of Virginia Potts had everything in its place, weapon included. Tucked into a leather case was an average-looking revolver. Tony probably never thought that he would have to use it, Julia grimly pondered as she inserted the ammunition clip. With an all-too-familiar click, she checked that it was properly loaded and inhaled deeply. Hopefully by now Tony would realize that something was wrong.

Julia snuck down the hallway towards the living room – since it was the middle of the house, it was most likely that someone would be there. A barely audible noise put her on alert. Following the sound, she crouched down inside a doorway to listen.

"What a masterpiece – look at that!" Obadiah's deep, powerful voice spoke softly to Tony; she strained to hear what was being said. "_This _is your legacy – a new generation of weapons with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power back in our hands, the right hands. I wish you could see my prototype; it's not as… not as _conservative_ as yours." There was the sound of movement and then he spoke a little louder; "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this – I would have preferred that she live."

Julia tensed. Did Pepper get caught trying to get that information? In any case, there wasn't anything that she could do about it right now. She was more concerned by the one-sided conversation she had overheard between Stane and Tony. It was unlike Tony to say nothing – something must have happened to him.

"Marius, I'm certain that the so-called guests are still here. Find them. I can't afford to have loose ends. Tony won't be going anywhere. I've got a tight schedule to keep, so I'll just have to leave you to it…"

Stane might have left the premises, but the odds had not gotten any better. Marius Dellinger's credentials as an executive assistant hadn't mentioned advanced combat training as one of his skills. She had no idea what she was going up against. Julia ducked further back into the shadows as Dellinger stalked off to search for her in the darken house. She prayed that Yinsen was well-hidden. Though Tony was somehow incapacitated in the next room, it could be a plot of Dellinger's to lure her out into the open. She would have to risk leaving him for now so that she could get to the assassin first.

Moving stealthily across the smooth floors, Marius had disappeared; she couldn't hear him or see any sign of his presence. Not good, Julia said to herself as her hands gripped the revolver. The lighting was on the lowest, most minimal setting, meaning that he could be hiding anywhere. There was the slightest scent lingering in the air – a man's cologne or aftershave. Before she could make a decision on which direction to follow, she heard a click directly behind her right ear.

Dellinger's words were measured; "You aren't the only one who knows this house, Ramirez. Drop it."

The gun clattered to the floor.

"Now put your hands on top of your head. Slowly."

Julia started raising her arms, knowing that he'd be expecting movement, but then she whipped around so that she deflected his aim to the outside of her body, and simultaneously yanked Dellinger's arm forward. With his stance off-balance, she twisted the gun out of his hand and got it trained on his torso.

"Alright Dellinger, turn around and put your hands on your head."

She had to get out of this confined area and check on Tony – might as well move this scene back out to the living room. First though, she had to pick up the other handgun. Slowly squatting down, Julia only momentarily flicked her gaze downward to grasp the weapon. The next thing she knew, Dellinger had kicked her shooting arm to the side and his fist was about to make contact with her face. Her quick reflexes allowed her to jerk her head back, but not before the blow glanced off her jaw, knocking her backwards. Rolling with the punch, Julia scissored his legs out from under him, bringing him down to her level. As he lunged to regain his handgun, she – holding her own – scrambled up just enough to jump out of the way and behind some cover. A volley of bullets followed her, tearing into the surrounding walls. They exchanged gunfire; the muzzle fire illuminated the place with sharp flashes of light. The blank clicking sound that Julia's gun made the next time she went to fire told her that she'd spent her entire clip of ammunition. She grit her teeth – time to change tactics.

Staying silent and out of sight, she waited for Dellinger to advance. He was probably expecting an ambush. Tightly gripping a statuette from a display shelf, Julia smashed it across the back of his neck in a backhand swipe. When he began to spin around she was ready to wrench the gun from his hand; he being too dazed to formulate a better counter-attack. This time Julia hurled the gun towards the nearest window. He shook off the blow and pushed her face-first into a wall; a quick turn of the head saved her from getting her nose broken. Dellinger had her collar and forearm clenched in his hands, and used the leverage to hurl her across the room, sending her sliding into a coffee table.

"I didn't think you would go down easy," he spoke as he walked toward her, she still getting back on her feet. "I was hoping you'd put up a fight, Ramirez."

"Well you're going to get one," she growled in return.

She was ready when Dellinger made the first move – his arm shot out in a punch that could have taken down another man. Taking a step toward him to close the space, she was able to deflect the attack, though just barely, with her arm at an oblique angle. Simultaneously, she thrust her other fist into his neck. Dellinger wheezed and spluttered, giving Julia enough time to get in some elbow and knee strikes. He was bent over, trying to shield his body from her repeated attacks, when he returned to the offence by bowling her over in a tackle. She wasn't prepared for something like that, and his size and weight immediately took her off balance. The moment he had her on the floor he tried to pin her down by sitting on her midsection, but she was able to make him table out by thrusting her hips upward. Grabbing his left arm and twisting his body downward, Julia flipped him over and came to be in the position he had tried for, this time smashing an elbow into his face before jumping back and getting clear of him.

Dellinger got to his feet, blood streaming from his mouth and his eyes showing a renewed ferocity. The flash of metal in his hand was a game changer; he allowed himself a smug expression as she eyed the four-inch boot knife. As a rule, knife-fights did not end well. He lashed out, Julia leapt backward, and he steadily advanced. Getting slashed was a bad prospect already, but getting stabbed would almost certainly mean a fatal wound. She already knew she wasn't going to get out of this unscathed; at this point she was more concerned with limiting the damage.

When her backside brushed against a chair, she realized that they were in the dining room – an area full of defensive objects. Hoisting up a chair, she held it like she was trying to keep a lion at bay. Dellinger tried swiping around it, then stabbing, but when both methods failed he simply grabbed a hold of the chair legs and forced her back into a buffet. He rammed the knife at her but she twisted the impromptu shield and sent the blade into the wall next to her. Julia hurled the chair towards him and he threw it to the side. He changed the way he was holding the knife to a reverse-grip and attacked with a guttural cry, trying to slash her apart. Julia started throwing anything she could grab, trying to keep the distance between them.

Suddenly Dellinger closed the space and lashed out, slicing into Julia's shoulder. He smirked at the sight of the red line spreading out on her shirt. With a few more swipes he had delivered small cuts to her sides, and her sleeves were striped with blood. Thrusting out his arm like a fencer, Dellinger barely missed her abdomen. This time she caught his forearm and pulled him forward enough to put the knife into a large painting directly behind her, and put another elbow in his face. Blood flowed from his nose and over his bared teeth. The blow made him lose his grip on the knife, which fell to the floor, and Julia scrambled to get it. Dellinger's uppercut leveled her and he retrieved the weapon, but instead of stabbing her he clutched a fist of her hair and started dragging her out of the room. Dazed and seeing stars, Julia screamed in pain and desperately clawed at his hand to alleviate the strain on her scalp.

He pulled her to the living room and stopped right before the large wood table. From where she lay on the floor holding onto his wrist, Julia could just see Tony's white face and wide eyes staring at the scene as he sat motionless on the sofa.

"What did you do to him?" she muttered through clenched teeth.

"The credit goes to Obadiah – he is feeling the effects of short-term paralysis. Though in Stark's case, by the time he is able to move, he'll most likely be dead." As Dellinger spoke, Julia noticed the gaping hole in Tony's chest where the arc reactor should have been. The shards of metal were once again making their way to his heart. "But he'll still be plenty alive to watch me slit your throat."

Dellinger began slowly raising her up using his grip on her hair. She screamed in response and slammed an elbow into the back of his knee joint, causing his leg to instantly buckle. As gravity took him to the floor he released his clasp on her, and Julia got enough footing to launch herself upward and seize the hand holding the knife. She drove her nails into the soft tissue of his inner wrist, forcing him to reflexively open his fingers. While landing on top of him, Julia tossed the knife, it skittering away on the smooth floor.

Shoving her off, he clambered up for the weapon. She dashed after him and rammed shoulder-first into his back like a football player. Dellinger collided with the wall in the narrow hallway leading to the foyer. Julia leapt past, but he wrapped his arms around her midsection, stopping her in her tracks. Realizing she couldn't fight the pull, she tried to lash back with elbow strikes and clipped him enough to make him lose his balance and stumble backwards. He landed hard on his back with her right on top of him – this time there was no escaping.

Dellinger gave up on the knife, instead locking his arms around her neck. His large arm muscles were solid; there was no way she would be able to loosen them. The pressure was crushing her throat. A hold like that, a chokehold, was the most difficult to get out of, not to mention the most threatening as it would only take a few seconds to make her black out. She couldn't make a sound, she couldn't even inhale. Julia kicked her legs wildly and clawed at his arms and reached back for his face. This is it, this is how it ends, her mind whispered. Her vision was darkening into a tunnel.

She barely felt the sensation of something sharp in her thigh. Julia's fingers frantically grasped at the object. The sounds of the struggle were muffled by the sound of her pounding blood. Her hand closed upon the handle of Dellinger's knife – they had landed almost right on top of it. One last-ditch effort before she succumbed to the blackness. Julia plunged the blade all the way into Dellinger's leg.

The death grip was instantly loosened and blood flooded her jugular. On the edge of unconsciousness, she barely heard his scream. Her final move was kicking a foot on the floor and propelling her head into his jaw, slamming his head back into the floor and rendering them both dead to the world.

* * *

Hearing was the first sense that came back to her – the sounds of someone moving near her. Julia felt no pain, just an overwhelming grogginess like she was awakening from a deep sleep but unable to fully come out of the unconscious state. She struggled to open her eyes, yet could not focus her vision. Next, she was aware of a hand gently rubbing her shoulder.

"Julia, you're safe. I'm here, it's Yinsen. Just stay where you are."

Blinking and squinting, she finally got a better look at where she was; the sideways view and towering walls meant she was lying on the floor. She swallowed and tasted blood.

"Wh-where am I?" she rasped.

"We're in the hallway of Stark's house. I'm going to roll you onto your back and examine your eyes, alright?"

She currently lay on her left side in the recovery position with her arm stretched out, her left palm tucked under her cheek, and her left leg bent over the over one. Yinsen carefully moved her and shone a small bright light into her eyes.

"Well, you don't have a concussion, but you have quite a welt on the top of your head."

"Can I sit up?"

"Yes, but I'll help you. And don't make any sudden movements."

The doctor hauled her into a sitting position and she reeled from the rush of blood, feeling like she might pass out once more, her head throbbing in pain. When the dizziness passed, she looked up and saw Yinsen kneeling beside a man's body; he was tightening a piece of cloth tied around his thigh. Everything came back to her – that was Marius Dellinger, and they had just had a death-match.

"Is he still alive?"

"Would I be doing this if he weren't?" Yinsen quipped. "He's going to need medical attention for this leg wound though. Lucky for him, the knife missed the artery."

Julia's gaze caught the bloody knife lying nearby.

"I thought I told you to stay hidden," she said, remembering what she had told him earlier.

"And listen to the screams? Since when have I left you?"

Her heart rate quickened. "Tony. What about Tony?"

"Where is he?"

"In the living room. Help me up, we have to get to him-"

Both of them froze at the sound of footsteps around the corner by the door. A handgun appeared in Yinsen's grip, one he'd found on the floor, and he shakily pointed it in the direction it came from.

"Tony! Tony! Whoa!" Rhodey skid to a stop when he saw them and raised his hands. "You know me; Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes."

Yinsen lowered the weapon. "Why are you here?"

"Pepper called me and told be about Obadiah. What happened?"

Yinsen waved him over to help Julia get to her feet, and then she started explaining.

"Rhodes, you might recognize Marius Dellinger, Mr. Stane's executive assistant."

He took a closer look at the unconscious man on the floor. His battered and bloody face was a sharp contrast to his normally polished appearance, and his hands were cinched together with his own belt.

"Yes…"

"He is also Stane's personal mercenary."

Rhodes stared at him, completely incredulous, then turned back to her. "Where's Tony?"

"Hopefully still alive. He was in the living room."

Rhodes and Yinsen half-dragged her as they ran to the room and found it empty.

"He must be in the shop. You two take the elevator; I'll meet you down there. Tony!" he yelled again.

By the time she and the doctor stepped out of the elevator doors, Rhodey was assisting a very pale Tony Stark to his feet. Julia and Tony stared at each other a moment.

"The arc reactor…" she gasped.

"The old one that Pepper put in a case… she didn't incinerate it." They embraced each other, and she winced in pain when his arms tightened around her. He instantly let go and took a second look at her, this time noticing just how bloodstained her shirt was. Tony hugged her again; gingerly this time.

"Thank goodness you're alright," he whispered in her ear, his voice choking a bit with emotion. "Thank you for keeping Yinsen safe." After the brief exchange, Tony cleared his throat and turned to Rhodes. "Where's Pepper?"

"She's fine. She's with five agents; they're about to arrest Obadiah."

"That's not going to be enough," he replied.

"Wait, Tony. What are you thinking?" Yinsen demanded.

"Obadiah has a suit, and he has my arc reactor. Government agents with handguns won't stop him."

"You're in no condition to stop him-."

"He's going to kill Pepper."

"I'm going with you," Julia spoke up.

"You are still bleeding! I cannot let you-"

"If he's going, then I can too."

The doctor sighed heavily. "I know."

"Dellinger's still upstairs – we have to get him into custody," Julia said.

"And Stane disabled the security," Yinsen added.

Tony took charge of the situation. "Rhodey, get Dellinger to the authorities. I'll lock down the house. Yinsen, go with Rhodes, he'll take care of you."

Rhodes dashed back upstairs while Tony got the systems back online. A moment later he returned with a hard look on his face.

"He's gone."

"What?" Julia exclaimed. "He can't be! Jarvis, bring up the exterior cameras. His SUV was parked just off the driveway."

The four of them peered at the monitors searching for the vehicle but there was nothing to see.

"There's a lot of blood up there; it looks like he dragged himself out the front door," Rhodes commented.

"What about the knife? Yinsen, where did you put the knife?"

"In the front bathroom. I picked it up with a towel and set it on the counter just before we got in the elevator."

"I didn't see any tracks going that way. He's badly injured so it seems like he fled the moment he came to," Rhodes reassured her.

Tony got her attention. "Julia, we'll find him, I promise, but right now we have to go."

Running over to the staging area, Stark and Ramirez let the mechanical arms suit them up as Rhodey watched in amazement.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen!" he exclaimed.

"Not bad, huh?" Stark responded, foregoing a comment about how he could've had a suit of his own. "Let's do it." His wrecked car still sat off to the side after that test-flight incident, and he blasted it out of the way.

"You need me to do anything else?" the lieutenant colonel asked.

"Keep the skies clear." Tony rocketed through the hole in the ceiling.

Julia's helmet snapped down across her face and she shot skyward after him.

* * *

_**A/N:** _ Please let me know what you thought of the fight scene! I re-wrote it like 5 or 6 times. Also, have you seen _Avengers_ yet? Totally awesome!


	13. The World's Best Weapon

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_This is it, people – Stane vs. Stark and Ramirez!

* * *

**Chapter 13 – The World's Best Weapon**

They streaked through the night towards the Stark Industries lab. There wasn't a moment to lose. The threat of Obadiah Stane in a weaponized suit was more than enough cause to worry, but if Pepper was there he could be using her as a hostage.

"Linking the suits now," Jarvis announced. That would allow Ramirez and Stark to not only communicate with each other, but also monitor the status of the other suit.

A moment later Julia got an overload of flashing red warnings on her heads-up display. They were a short distance from the lab, but whatever was happening was bad enough to register right now.

"Hey Tony, is that smoke I'm seeing?"

"I'm calling Pepper." There was a pause as the call was connected. "Pepper."

"Tony? Tony! Are you okay?" Virginia's anxious voice exclaimed.

"I'm fine."

"Obadiah, he's… he's gone insane!"

"I know. Get out, get out of there right now," Tony urged her.

"Oh my gosh, what is that?" Julia muttered. She was hoping that she was not getting this information properly – something was emerging from the ground just outside the laboratory.

"He… he built a suit!" Pepper stammered, not yet realizing the danger she was in.

"Tony, Stane is right behind her."

"On it."

In a bolt of red and gold, Stark shot out of the sky and bowled over the massive dark suit. It was about three times his size, but the force of the impact blasted them through a tall freeway barrier and straight into traffic. Instead of immediately following them, Julia dropped out of flight next to the shaken Pepper Potts. She retracted the helmet from her face so she could speak directly to her.

"Virginia, are you alright?"

"Yes! No! This is crazy, this is not happening!"

"Where are the agents you came with?"

"They were right behind me in the lab. I don't know what happened to them… Obadiah was chasing me."

"Okay, I'll come back and look for them, but I have to help Tony. They're on the highway and civilians are going to get hurt. Virginia, stay here unless either Tony or I tell you otherwise. Got it?"

"Yes, stay here, got it. Julia, just stop Obadiah – he's out of his mind."

She snapped the helmet down again and fired the thrusters. "Tony, I'm coming in." There wasn't any acknowledgement from his side, and her eyes flicked over to the Mark III stats; his power readings were alarmingly low. "Jarvis, what's going on with Tony's suit?"

"The chestpiece that Mr. Stark is currently using was never designed for sustained flight."

"So he could run out of power before we've taken down Stane…"

"It is a high probability."

Julia arrived just in time to see Stane toss an SUV he was holding aloft as Tony blasted him with a chest arc. He caught it by the front bumper and she rushed in to take up the back end. They set it down, but the wheels were still spinning rapidly – presumably the person driving still had a foot on the accelerator. Julia's heels dug deep into the asphalt as she tried to maintain her grip on the vehicle long enough for Tony to get clear. The entire fender tore off and the SUV sped away; Stark nearly getting run over in the process.

Behind them, Stane had regained his footing and stomped towards them with giant steps. Julia, still clutching the part of the vehicle, hurled it at the menacing figure, which he swatted aside like an insect. The momentary distraction gave Tony the opportunity to get in a few blasts of his palm arcs. The return fire from Stane's suit was immensely powerful, scorching huge holes in the freeway and sending cars skidding.

Taking evasive action, Julia flew around him and shot at the midsection and legs of the suit. Stane spread his arms out to the side and tried to blast both she and Stark at once. A metal plate in his armour opened and a missile folded out, which he launched at part of the freeway's structural support. There was a fiery explosion that left a couple cars teetering on the edge; Julia raced to save the terrified occupants.

Tony's sweat-soaked face appeared on her screen. "We've got to take this off the freeway. Collateral damage is part of his strategy."

"Noted. Then I'm sure he won't mind a bit in return. Jarvis, I need that tank-buster thing that Tony used in Gulmira."

"Right away, Ms. Ramirez. Weapon is ready to launch."

After tearing the door off a damaged car to free the person inside, she turned back and raised her right forearm, letting the targeting sensors line up with Stane's back. It would take a couple seconds to detonate. Julia crouched behind a vacant car which would take the majority of the blow. She braced for the impact that didn't come; she stood and peered over the side.

"Nice try, Ramirez!" Obadiah's deep voice, synthesized by the suit, bellowed. "My system picked up that little missile and neutralized it on contact. You're forgetting that I know a great deal about Stark tech."

Tony came up behind him and pelted him with more intense shots, but the heavy armour was holding strong. Stane ignored him long enough to shoot a missile back at Julia, tearing apart the car she was behind. The force threw her back into a mid-sized truck and the car basically landed on her. Her display became distorted and nearly went entirely black before restoring itself.

"The Mark-J has sustained moderate damage, but all systems are online."

"Thanks Jarvis," she replied. Julia tried to move but found herself effectively pinned down. "Tony, how're you doing?"

"Been better," he muttered in replied, followed by a crash and a groan.

Stane's voice growled at him; "For years I've been holding you up!"

The suit was giving her readings beyond what she could see; those readings not being good ones. The Mark III was almost out of power, and Tony had just been thrown into a city bus.

"I built this company from nothing. Nothing's going to stand in my way; least of all you!" Stane launched several missiles that demolished the bus and Tony's stats flickered.

"Tony!" she shouted. A figure in the sky caught her attention; it was Stark being hurled up into the air from the shockwave.

Julia put both of her palms against the car and powered up the charge. The resulting blast thrust the car off of her and into Obadiah. He stumbled but the wide footing of his suit kept him from falling over. Both Tony and Julia hovered about fifteen feet in the air. The monster head of Stane's suit swiveled back to Stark's direction.

"Impressive! You've upgraded your armour. Well, I've made a few upgrades of my own." The plating on the legs of his suit shifted and the repulsors fired like a rocketship lifting off.

"Sir, it appears his suit can fly." The announcement from Jarvis sounded more like a deadpan remark.

"Duly noted. Take me to maximum altitude."

Before even the A.I. could interject, Julia started protesting. "You've got nine percent power, Tony. There's no way you can make that height right now!"

"I know what I'm doing. Stay here, I'll be right back."

She grit her teeth, but trusted that whatever his plan was, he could pull it off. Julia flew back over to where Pepper still stood outside the Stark Industries building.

"What's Tony doing?" she asked the woman in the armoured suit, while gazing skyward.

"I'm not sure. Right now, I'm going to get those agents out. Let me know if something happens out here."

Julia scanned for signs of life in the collapsed hallways of the lab. It appeared that several men were trapped on the other side of the debris.

"Jarvis, see if you can connect to the mobile devices of anyone inside the lab."

"I have located a connection… it's a secure line… connection established."

A moment later she could hear a phone ringing.

"Hello, please identify yourself." The voice was a man's and all business. He probably wasn't thrilled to have an unknown person calling his encrypted phone.

"I've been sent by Virginia Potts to extract you. Are you injured?"

"No, but a couple of my men are critically injured."

"Okay. The corridor that leads to the front atrium is blocked, but it appears to be the only way into that sector. Please stand clear, I'm coming through."

"Affirmative."

Julia raised both palms and started blasting an escape route; some of the pieces she could just throw out of the way. The display was invaluable in showing her areas where structural support had been weakened, so that she wouldn't make the situation worse than it already was. With one last kick she broke through to the part of the lab known as Section Eight. When the dust settled, the emergency lighting dimly lit her powerful form. She hadn't thought about what her appearance in the suit would be like for the men. Even after the encounter with Stane, they still seemed genuinely surprised to see her. One man drew his weapon, but another who seemed to be in charge motioned for him to back down.

Before anyone could speak, there was a distant rumble. Inside the suit, Julia glanced at the Mark III status – it was running on emergency backup power. Whatever had happened with Stane had taken him off her radars, but left Tony with barely enough power to make a controlled landing. She turned back to the agents.

"I have to go. Can you take it from here?"

"Yes."

Julia rocketed back outside and found Tony touching down on the roof of the building.

"I'm almost out of power – I gotta get out of this thing," he said tersely as the faceplate of his helmet retracted.

Before Julia could reply, the warning on her display flashed red. She didn't even have time to react. Stane blasted them both, sending Tony and Julia crashing down onto a concrete section of the roof.

"Nice try!" the man bellowed.

Julia was blinking back stars, trying to focus on the display. She couldn't see Stane, but knew he was getting closer by the vibrations of him walking.

"I thought that plummeting back earth would take him down for sure," Tony muttered.

"No kidding…"

"Come on, we've got to end this."

"Tony, the suit's done; fall back."

"Not happening, Ramirez."

Stane was nearly right on top of them when she rolled over and shot a round of small rockets into the suit's head. That was enough of a distraction for Tony to leap onto Stane's back and start tearing wiring out of the neck area. A roar came from the monstrous machine and Obadiah reached back and seized Tony by the head, then brought him forward to watch the helmet crumple in the metal claws. Julia had slipped around to the left of their adversary and blasted the joints of one of the suit's arms. Tossing Stark back across the roof, Stane turned his full attention on her.

"He'll still be there when I'm done with you," he taunted. "You are proving to be more than a nuisance. Ramirez, how is it that you're even alive right now? Somehow I can't believe that you would've been able to escape Marius." He tried to shoot her, but the aim was completely off.

"Ah, that's what Tony did – my targeting system is down. It'll just take a little longer, that's all."

Stane pelted the entire roof with his ammunition; forcing Julia to take to the air. She flew circles around him, aiming for the vulnerable parts of the suit; of which there seemed few. Next, Stane launched a small guided missile from a compartment on the back of the armour.

"Tony, I've got to get this missile off me, I'll be right back. He'll be looking for you."

"Got it."

Julia started gaining altitude, then an idea dawned on her. "Tony, if I can lock the missile onto Stane, will it take him down?"

"You're not an air force girl for nothing," he joked. "Do it."

"This is going to be rough," she warned.

Julia curved wide to avoid getting too close to the weapon, then rocketed down for the towering metal suit. She would have to swoop right past him to get the missile off of her tail and onto him. Stane saw her coming and attempted to shoot her down; still missing her completely.

"Come on, come on, come on," she breathed to herself, hoping she didn't bounce off the roof.

As the Mark-J passed, Stane swung one of his massive arms and clipped her just enough to send her careening across the roof and off of it. The missile slammed into him a second later, and for a moment the suit was engulfed in fire. When the smoke cleared, he was still standing, and a throaty, maniacal laugh echoed through the Stark Laboratory campus.

The Mark III helmet was so badly damaged that Tony took it off and tossed it to the side, and then faced his former mentor. Obadiah opened up the suit so that they could see each other eye-to-eye.

"I never had a taste for this kind of thing, but I must admit that I'm deeply enjoying the suit," the older man said with a smirk. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony; you would have made your father proud. Ironic though, trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever; and now I'm going to kill you with it."

Stane opened fire, shredding the area all around where Tony stood. Without the power to even get off the ground, Stark fell through and dangled by the steel beams, right over the blue-glowing arc reactor that powered the lab. In the lobby below, Pepper Potts was waiting with the government agents for the back-up to arrive, and the shards of glass rained down on them.

"Tony!" she cried out.

"Pepper! Get clear! I've got enough power for one more shot; I'm going to blow the arc reactor."

"No! You're too close – you'll die!"

"It's the only way to stop Obadiah."

"Tony, no! Please!"

"Virginia, I-"

A voice abruptly came through Pepper's earpiece: "It's Julia. Tell Stark to drop and roll. Now."

"Wait, Tony – Julia says drop and roll now!"

Without hesitation, he let go of the roof framing and landed on the arc reactor. The impact put a dent in it, but the curvature slid him to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Obadiah near the edge of the hole in the roof. Suddenly there was a loud clang, and the giant suit careened into the opening. Tony immediately rolled away from the power system, all at once understanding what was about to happen.

Obadiah tried to hit the repulsors to halt the descent, but that only quickened his demise. The suit crashed into the arc reactor, and the energy from the repulsors ignited the destabilized molecules. The explosion blasted a shock wave through the building and a beam of energy shot skyward, causing lightning up in the clouds.

* * *

It was the sound of someone screaming in her ears that told her she was still alive. For a moment Julia wasn't sure; everything was completely black. The heads-up display in her helmet blinked back on.

"Jarvis, status report."

"The power surge from the explosion of the Stark Laboratory arc reactor temporarily overloaded the suit's internal power. Your current power level is thirty-eight percent; damage is significant, flight capabilities are active, arsenal is nearly depleted. You are still receiving audio feeds from Ms. Potts' Bluetooth earpiece."

That would explain why a woman was screaming Tony's name in the background, Julia thought to herself. "Jarvis, can you give me any readings from the Mark III?"

"I am not detecting any power from Mr. Stark's suit."

It was evident that Pepper was alright, so Julia spoke up to let her know that she was also alive. "Virginia, it's Ramirez."

"Julia! Where are you? Tony's not waking up!" she replied with marked panic in her voice.

"I'm on the roof; coming down to you right now."

The thrusters fired up on the Mark-J and seconds later Ramirez touched down in the destroyed main entrance of the lab. Stark lay in a darkened corner, with Pepper on her knees beside him, and standing nearby were the government agents that Julia had helped earlier. She didn't need her suit's sensors to tell her that something was seriously wrong – the arc reactor in Tony's chest was not glowing. Julia retracted the faceplate of her helmet and made eye contact with Pepper.

"He's still alive," the red-head told her, "I checked the pulse in his neck. Why isn't he waking up? Why isn't the blue light on?"

"He was out of power…" Julia paused a moment, not sure of how much information to give her. "Tony's got shrapnel in his chest, and the arc reactor is what is keeping it out of his heart…"

Pepper looked as though she would faint.

"I might be able to jump-start the reactor."

Julia reached out to put her palm to his chest, hoping she could jolt it back into action, but all of a sudden blue light sparked. Everyone watched with bated breath as the flickering got stronger, until the entire device surged into a full glowing circle once again.

As Tony's eyelids fluttered, Pepper stroked his hair and forehead. "Tony? Can you hear me?" she whispered

"Pepper," he murmured and opened his eyes, "you never told me you were an angel."

"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" she exclaimed.

"I can't move; the suit's too heavy and I drained the back-up power already. I've got to fix that…"

There was the sound of vehicles pulling up outside, instantly putting Julia on alert, but the lead agent stepped forward.

"Don't worry, they're with us."

A moment later more special agents flooded the place, guns drawn. Julia didn't really hear the commotion that took place as they ascertained that she and Stark were not the hostiles. She was feeling weak and dizzy. Jarvis' voice even sounded concerned over the bleeding that was occurring inside her suit; the battle that she had just been through had likely kept those wounds from doing any sort of proper clotting.

Pepper took charge of the situation, ordering the detachment of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division to take them all back to Stark's estate, despite Tony's protestations.

"Don't worry," Virginia told her, "_this_ I can deal with."

* * *

_**A/N: **_This is the second to last chapter of this story. Yes, you read right; it's almost finished. However, because I'm obsessed with this story, I want to continue it as long as there are movies with Iron Man in them. So, for the upcoming fic Julia's suit needs a nickname (Iron Man for Tony, War Machine for Rhodes, you catch my drift). Please send in your suggestions – I'd love your input!


	14. Iron Man

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything pertaining to _Marvel Comics_ or _Iron Man_, or anything else related to this material of which I written about. All rights are reserved by the original owners.

_**Author's Note: **_The last chapter. Wow! I can't believe it's taken me this long to finish this story! (sorry) Thank you for sticking with me all through it. I hope you enjoy this one.

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Iron Man**

"Tell me if it hurts."

"It's manageable."

"I can't believe you… I had no idea…"

"Yeah…"

"You could've been killed!"

"Nearly was."

"I never should have trusted him."

"You had no reason not to trust Marius."

Julia and Virginia were sitting in the back of a government SUV that was racing to the nearest hospital. Agent Phil Coulson – the man Julia had contacted while freeing the agents trapped in the Stark building – followed Ms. Potts' instructions to have Stark and Ramirez be shuttled straight back to the house. Meanwhile, Yinsen, who had left with Rhodes, returned there with Happy Hogan. Tony wasn't pleased with having strangers down in his workshop, but Pepper convinced him to allow Coulson and a couple other men to standby as the robots took the suits off of him and Julia.

Only then did they realize the extent of Julia's injuries. The fight with Obadiah had kept her multiple knife wounds bleeding. Pepper hadn't spoken much since she saw that; not to mention the blood all over Stark's house. The news of Marius Dellinger's identity had also shocked her. Now Virginia held cloths to the deep cut in Julia's shoulder; still trying to comprehend everything that had happened that night. While Yinsen would be tending to Tony, Julia – who did not have an arc reactor in her chest to worry about – could go to a hospital.

"I think I'm going into shock… I feel really cold," Julia murmured.

"We're almost there," Virginia tried to reassure her.

"I'm going to need so many stitches…"

"Don't think about it. It'll be okay; the doctors will know what to do."

"I'm glad you're alright – Tony was worried."

"Really? Well, I guess he would be."

"Obadiah was out to get you. He thought we would be dead."

Pepper shivered. "Thank you for being there for Tony."

"Always," she said in return.

By the time Julia and Virginia finished at the hospital and came back to Stark's house, it was in the early hours of the morning. They found specialized personnel carefully assessing the crime scene, that being all the areas where Ramirez and Dellinger had fought. Yinsen was resting peacefully on the living room sofa, and Tony was stretched out next to him, completely asleep with an arm hanging over the side in mid-air. Agent Coulson approached, still looking surprisingly alert despite the stressful night.

"We were finally able to sit down with Mr. Stark and debrief him; all it took was a death match with his former mentor and a ton of collateral damage."

"I never said that it would be easy to talk with him," Pepper replied with a tired smile.

"Though after tonight's events, it would have been difficult for him to hide the existence of his new technology. On that note, in order to counter the media flood Mr. Stark will inevitably be facing in the morning, I have to arrange for a statement he can make to the press. Ms. Potts, would you please get a press conference scheduled?"

"Of course. Is there anything else that I can do to help?"

"Not at the present, but I will keep you informed as things progress." Coulson turned to Julia next. "How are you feeling, Airman Ramirez?"

She grimaced slightly. "I'll live."

"That's good to hear. As I'm sure you're aware, the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division would also like to debrief you. Normally we would like to do this as soon as possible after an incident, though considering your condition we can wait until tomorrow when you are rested."

"I appreciate that – I don't think I'd be very coherent, especially as I'm already on some painkillers."

"After the press conference I will meet with you here; that will likely be sometime in the late morning." His gaze shifted back to Pepper. "I've also arranged for our agency to send a team to clean up the house."

The woman suppressed a shudder and tried not to look at the bloodstained residence. "Thank you very much – I doubt our regular cleaners would be able to handle this."

"I believe that's all for now, ladies. Until tomorrow."

Coulson went off to supervise the rest of the team as they were packing up equipment, and Julia gingerly sat down on the sofa. The movement awakened Yinsen, who groggily peered at her bandages.

"How many stitches?" he asked.

"I can't remember; it was double digits, something like fifty or more."

"You're going to have to take it easy until all of that gets healed."

"I know…" she said with a yawn.

"Well, I'm going to bed. See you all in the morning."

"Thanks, Yinsen," Tony mumbled from where he lay. He had small pieces of medical tape upon the cuts on his face and across the bridge of his nose.

Pepper came over and bent down next to him. "Tony, you should really go to bed."

"No way. I don't have the energy to move."

"Do you want a blanket then?"

"Please," he replied. "I can't believe you left me here with Coulson."

"You were going to have to talk with him one way or the other."

"It wasn't a 'talk' – it was an interrogation!"

"Julia, would you like a pillow and a blanket as well?"

She was dozing off already. "Yes. I think I'll just sleep here."

Pepper left and returned a few minutes later with the bedding for both of them. After tucking them in, she went off to her room.

"Hey Tony?" Julia asked, nearly asleep.

"Present."

"You would've sacrificed yourself to stop Obadiah."

He didn't reply, but she knew he was listening.

"Thank you. I wanted to let you know: all of us are better for having you in our lives."

"I feel the same way about all of you."

* * *

Julia didn't move once the rest of the time that she was asleep. She hadn't even stirred when Pepper had awakened Tony to get him to his press conference. It was when Yinsen brightened the living room by having the windows brightened – a useful feature to keep the windows free of curtains – that Julia finally came out of her deep slumber. The doctor handed her a mug of tea and sat down on the sofa next to her.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Alive – which is good enough for me."

"That press conference is starting in ten minutes; I'm anxious to know how this situation will be dealt with. Come into the breakfast nook and we can watch from there. I have some food prepared as well."

"Thanks Yinsen, but couldn't we just have it here."

"We could, but the bloodstains in this room put me off."

Julia squinted at the floor. "Right. Help me up."

"The cleaners from that Strategic Division thing will be here later today," he reminded her as they made their way to a less damaged part of the house.

The television was already on the news channel that was about to broadcast the press conference. First to appear was Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, who quickly strode through the hoard of anxiously waiting reporters. Behind him was Tony Stark, who seemed no worse for wear to the observers. The medical tape was gone, and Pepper had most likely disguised the cuts and bruises with some makeup.

Rhodes stepped up to the microphone first, his face more serious than usual. "You've all received the official statement of what occurred at Stark Industries last night – there have been unconfirmed reports that a robotic prototype malfunctioned and caused damage to the arc reactor. And now Mr. Stark has prepared a statement; he will not be taking any questions, thank you."

"He looks nervous," Julia murmured to Yinsen.

"I just hope he says what he ought to," he replied.

Stark cleared his throat and began; "Uh, it's been a while since I was in front of you – figured I'd stick to the cards this time. There's been speculation that I was involved with the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop-"

Just then, a blond woman in the front row of reporters cut him off mid-sentence. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, do you honestly expect us to believe that there was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared-"

"Excuse me," Tony interrupted her in return, "It's one thing to question the official story, but to make wild accusations assuming that I'm some kind of superhero-"

"I never said you were a 'superhero'," she replied with a smirk.

"You didn't? Well good, 'cause that would be outlandish, and fantastic," he added under his breath. "I'm not the hero type, clearly; with the laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made…"

Julia would've smacked her palm to her forehead if she weren't concerned about disrupting her stitches. Back on the stage, Rhodes had to discreetly get Tony back on track.

"The truth is…" Tony continued, but then stopped and stared at his prompt cards.

Yinsen sat forward in his seat and started muttering, "Don't do it, Tony. Stay with the statement. Don't do it!"

Julia's eyes widened; she suddenly realized what Yinsen's apprehension was about. She saw the resolve in Tony's eyes a millisecond before he opened his mouth to speak.

Tony Stark looked up from his cards and gazed at the assembly of people before him. "I am Iron Man."

The conference room erupted with eager shouts from the reporters, who were instantly on their feet and surging for the stage.

Yinsen and Julia sank back into their seats, stunned into silence as they stared blankly at the media circus.

"I can't believe…" Julia started, but trailed off.

"I can," Yinsen replied. "It's Tony."

"But, what about… everything?"

"I don't know. 'Let the chips fall where they may', I guess."

"Pepper's going to kill him."

"I doubt very much that the government will be pleased either."

"Agent Coulson is gonna kill him too."

On the screen they watched Stark wade through the crowd, surrounded by a layer of security persons, while Rhodes tried to gain a semblance of order from the platform.

"Where do things go from here?" Julia asked, though it was more rhetorical.

"Forward." Yinsen turned off the television. "Let's get you ready for the day. Besides, I want to check all of these dressings."

"My arms aren't broken; I can manage."

"You'll change your mind the moment you try to change your shirt."

* * *

Pepper Potts called the house a couple hours later, sounding stressed. "I'll assume you saw the press conference?"

"Yes, we saw it," Yinsen answered.

"You can imagine the insanity, then. I can't believe that Tony would do this! Total disregard for everyone and everything! This is really going to wreak havoc!"

"Ms. Potts, this is Tony Stark we're talking about. He's known to be completely unpredictable."

"I know, but still!" She sighed heavily, before continuing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to call you and vent."

"Don't apologize. I am happy to lend a listening ear."

"Thank you Yinsen. How are you and Julia?"

"We're alright. We're out on the patio, and Julia is sleeping in a deck chair."

"Have the cleaners from S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived yet?"

"Ah, an acronym, finally!" he replied with a small laugh. "Yes, they're here. They said it might take a while; there are bullet casings and so forth."

"I see. Well, Agent Coulson has assured me that they will be able to handle everything, and that someone will debrief Julia a little later. I expect that we'll be out for the rest of the day dealing with this new situation, so will you be alright?"

"Yes, don't worry about us."

"I'll send something to you for dinner. I want you both to just relax."

"Thank you. We will see you later Ms. Potts."

"Oh, and Yinsen, feel free to call me 'Virginia' or 'Pepper'."

"Thank you, Virginia."

* * *

The rest of the day passed quietly – a welcome rarity for Julia, as she was sore all over. Though if she were feeling this badly, Dellinger was probably feeling worse; granted that he had survived his injuries. For some reason, Julia didn't want to be alone in her room. She had spent the day lounging all over the place, but hadn't actually gone to lie in her bed. By eleven that night, Tony had not yet returned, Yinsen went to his room, and she stayed on the sofa, staring at the ceiling.

At the sound of a click, adrenaline flooded her system and she could feel her heart racing. Julia forced herself to remember her training, and switched to strategic breathing; drawing air deep into her lungs and pausing while inhaling. It's nothing, you're imagining things, she said to herself. But then she heard the tread of boots on the hard floor. It would only be a moment until the person entered the living room. Clenching her teeth in pain, Julia gingerly yet swiftly got to the floor between the sofa and the table and lay still. What she would've done for a firearm in that moment.

"Don't move!" a voice shouted suddenly. "Hands up high!"

Julia recognized it – Yinsen. She sat up and saw Yinsen standing there in the darkness with a gun trained on the intruder; that being a formidable-looking man. He was wearing a knee-length, black leather coat, had a shaved head, and an eye-patch over the left eye. Not at all who they were expecting. Oddly enough he had listened to the commands, and had both hands up in surrender.

"Doctor Yinsen, Airman Ramirez," he greeted them. "Forgive me for startling you; I was hoping that you would both be in bed."

With difficultly Julia got to her feet to face the man. Dispensing with 'who' or 'how', she got right to the point; "What do you want?"

"I need to have a word with Mr. Stark."

"He has an office," Yinsen remarked.

"What I have to say to him actually concerns both of you also. I am the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Nick Fury." He looked over at Julia. "I can appreciate what you've just been through with Marius Dellinger, so I don't expect you to trust me."

Julia stared him down, but then heard Yinsen put the safety on the gun.

"I trust you," he said. Julia glared at him, yet he continued talking; "If you had wanted to kill us, you would've done so already. Besides, I have heard of you before."

Julia shrugged her acceptance and sat down.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence, doctor."

"Please sit, Mr. Fury."

He did so and started explaining the reason for his unexpected appearance. "I'm going to cut to the chase here: S.H.I.E.L.D. is very interested in these suits that Stark has developed. We have been trying to debrief him on his escape from Afghanistan because we had received intelligence on a mechanical suit that he had made. It wasn't until a so-called mysterious raid on a Ten Rings weapons depot that we discovered what Stark has been up to since his return. I must say that it was a surprise to see not one, but two suits in action." He glanced at Julia. "You two make a formidable team."

She accepted the praise with a nod of her head; her feelings toward the man were starting to thaw slightly.

"Now, I've read the report on last night's incident, but I have to ask you something: Why are you flying around in a suit like this instead of getting some R&R?"

Julia let out a breath of air. "I need to. Returning to civilian life has been really difficult; I'm not the same person as when I went on tour, and especially after being in that cave for months. I needed something to do, something with purpose. When Tony asked me to help out with building a new suit, I jumped at it. And after Gulmira, we both knew that it was just the beginning. After all we've been through I'm not going to leave now."

Fury rubbed his chin and sat back on the sofa, then turned his attention to Yinsen. "Doctor, I believe that you're the reason that Tony Stark is still alive. What's your part in his current venture?"

"A valid question. Well, as I have no plans to be flying around in a suit, I have been getting some rest and relaxation; Stark has generously invited me to stay as long as I wish. My family is dead, and I'm recovering from a leg wound – I need time to figure out what to do with myself. Until then, I'm keeping an eye on these two." He smiled at Julia when he said it.

"Well, it seems as though you both have a good situation here. Where do you see yourselves going with this project?"

"I'm not sure," Julia responded. "Wherever Tony goes with it, I guess."

"In that case that brings me to-" Fury paused midsentence when his cell phone buzzed. "Excuse me a moment." His eyes scanned the message he'd received, then he looked at them with a bit of a smile. "I've just been told that the man of the hour has returned. He should be in momentarily, then I can tell all three of you at once."

Under a minute later, the sound of someone entering was heard, followed by Tony's voice.

"Jarvis?"

"Welcome home, sir…" The A.I. had been temporarily circumvented and the reply faded out before it could finish.

Tony stopped short when he saw Julia and Yinsen sitting with a stranger.

"'I am Iron Man.' Think you're the only superhero in the world?" Fury spoke from where he sat, then stood to address him directly. "Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet."

"Who the heck are you?" Tony asked, his tone exhibiting annoyance.

"Nick Fury – Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." He walked over to a better lit area, allowing Tony to see him better.

"Oh," was all Stark could say.

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

Tony looked over at his friends. "Okay, which one of you let him in here?" He turned back to Fury. "Wait, how _did_ you get inside?"

"I was using the interface when it started acting strangely, then Jarvis reported an intruder," Yinsen explained. "As Julia was sleeping out here, naturally I came to investigate."

"That's why you had the gun," Julia said to him. "I didn't know that you were keeping it with you."

"I thought that you would try to keep it on your person, and you definitely should not be carrying a firearm at present; for more than one reason."

"That reminds me, Tony – you have to keep more ammo handy."

"I'll get right on that. Sorry."

Fury cleared his throat loudly and they all looked over at him. "As much as I'd love to sit around and chat, we've got some business to get through."

Tony flopped down onto the sofa. "Fire away, Director."

"The Avenger Initiative is a program in the works for those with extraordinary abilities and powers, such as yourselves."

"Did you say 'powers'?" Tony asked.

Fury glared at him and continued; "While I recognize that you probably don't wish to work directly for S.H.I.E.L.D. at this point in time, this program is designed to be a kind of auxiliary force that can be tasked out to specific situations."

"So it's a club for superheroes."

"It's going to involve functioning in a team capacity, and meetings with S.H.I.E.L.D. on some kind of regular basis. Now, this is all still in the developmental phase, but I would like to start observing your progress with this 'Iron Man' thing, and see whether you would be able to fit into this Initiative."

"Observe away, but I'm not making any commitments."

Julia spoke up; "Director Fury, I'm not sure that you should be offering a place on this program to me. I'm just an airman, and not anywhere near the technological genius that Tony is."

"Thank you, that's so sweet," Tony said to her in an undertone.

"Ms. Ramirez, you are a courageous woman that has just been given an incredible power. You may not fully realize this yet, but your personal qualities combined with this suit of yours could make you a potent addition to such a team."

Yinsen also voiced his hesitation. "I don't see how I would be able to be a part of the Avenger Initiative; I deal with the medical, not the mechanical."

Fury smiled a bit. "Doctor, I would like to be able to have you attached to the Initiative on a consulting basis. Seeing how you kept these two in good health against insurmountable odds speaks volumes."

"So, is this some kind of interview, or are we going to have some sort of testing thing?" Tony asked.

"I guess you could call it that. This meeting is to make you aware of what would be in the best interests of both parties, and that would put your skills to good use, especially in the face of a large disaster. That is when we would need the Avenger team the most." Fury stood, indicating that he would leave. "It's a big world out there. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. acknowledges that we can't handle everything on our own."

"When do we know if we've been accepted into the Avenger Initiative?" Julia asked.

"Don't worry, you'll know. Until then, good luck with the with the hero thing. You're going to need it."

Nick Fury left and the three of them sat on the sofa in silence.

"That was weird," Tony ventured.

"This Avenger program must be very important for him to speak with us personally," Yinsen remarked. "Director Fury is something of a legend, from what I've heard."

"Legend or not, he did a break-and-enter on my house. I'm going to have to reset the system again. Darn spies…"

"I don't know if I'm ready to be a superhero," Julia murmured.

"You're my hero. Or should that be _heroine_, Ms. Airman?" Tony replied with a smirk on his face.

"Whatever you say, Iron Man."

**The End**

* * *

_**A/N: **_Thanks for reading this story! If you wish to continue following this AU, the first chapter of the next story is ready and waiting! It's called _Legacy_. Hope you see you there!**  
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